-
作品分析题（
18
分
）
1.
Faulkner’s
A Rose for
Emily
This story happens after the
American Civil War, in Jefferson Town.
It
’
s a story about
an eccentric spinster named Emily
Grierson whose marriage is totally manipulated by
her
father.
Two
years
after
her
father
’
s
death,
poor
Emily
is
acquainted
with
a
northerner
called Homer Barron, a day laborer and
she falls in love with him. However, their
relation
is short-lived as Homer
becomes tired of her and intends to get rid of
her. In order to keep
Homer at hand,
Emily kills him with arsenic and
“
obtain
”
him, thus, she
sleeps with his
corpse
for
decades.
This
is
the
truth
that
villagers
find
after
her
death.
From
my
own
perspective, this masterpiece
reflects
the decline
of the southern society
and
reveals
the
conflicts
between
the
two
different
value
systems
and
two
societies
after
the
American
Civil
War.
Then,
I
will
explain
my
opinions
from
the
following
two
aspects:
character,
symbol .
Emily is an
embodiment of the south, the old and tradition. At
the very beginning of
this story, the
writer recounts the decoration of her house which
is still 1870s style, isn
’
t
change any more. Besides, she is
also obstinate.
When the new
government compel the
taxes
on her
，
she refuses to pay
the tax and even ridiculously mentions a colonel
who has
been dead almost ten years.
Another example is that she prevents people from
installing
mail-box on the wall. She
keeps the traditional views all the
long
，
but resists to change
anything. However, poor Emily is a
determined woman. Regardless of
people
’
s criticism,
she insists on marrying a northerner
whose social position is apparently lower than
her. It
is known that in that period of
time, hierarchy is prevailing and deep-rooted
through out
the society. It
particularly has a profound influence on marriage.
When someone chooses a
partner,
he
or
she
must
consider
the
social
position
of
the
other
party
to
the
marriage.
However,
Emily
chooses
to
disobey
the
convention
and
challenges
tradition.
Given
this
situation, her failure is quite
expectable. However, she cannot get rid of the
shackles of the
Southern
conventions.
After
all,
she
captures
her
lover
in
her
own
way
and
the
love
is
treated with honor.
Her
father,
the
old
Grierson,
is
also
an
incarnation
of
the
South,
patriarchy
and
tradition. He was very fastidious about
her daughter
’
s marriage and
drove away every man
who caught the
fancy of her.
“
When she got
to thirty and was still
single
”
. Obviously, both
her body and mind are enslaved by her
father
’
s traditional
concept. Therefore, she feels
released
when her father is dead, and there is no
“
trace of grief on her
face
”
.
In this
novel, Emily symbolizes the South, old and
tradition, the Yankee represents
the
North, new and modern. Both young guys might be
interested in each other when they
first
meet.
But
they
possess
altogether
different
values
or
concept
of
lives.
So
they
inevitably
separated
before
long.
The
conflict
between
the
two
partners
symbolizes
the
conflict
between
the
South
and
the
North.
And
the
absurd
murder
aggravates
the
contradictions.
The
< br>“
Rose
”
,
that
is
never
mentioned
in
this
novel,
is
always
interpreted
conventionally
as
a
symbol
of
love.
It
might
be
used
as
the
love
Emily
gets
from
her
lover.
But
in
my
opinion
the
rose
mainly
represents
decay
and
death.
At
the
time
the
villagers
went
to
her
room
and
found
the
valance
curtains
of
faded
rose
color
and
the
rose-shaded lights in
the room. Actually, the author plays a trick on
Miss Emily. In fact,
she
doesn
’
t really get any love
from any man whether it is from her lover or her
father.
Emily could have a favorable
marriage but for her
father
’
s interference. She
could have
got
her
deserved
love
from
Homer.
But
on
account
of
her
obstinacy
and
pride,
she
receives
tiredness
and
indifference,
instead
of
affection---rose,
from
him.
Thus,
as
an
outsider, the author or
the villagers, they give a rose as a tribute to
Emily. Besides, the
rose
also
stands
for
the
author
’
s
and
villager
s’
pity,
sympathy
and
lament
for
Emily,
whose mind is
imprisoned in the past and fails to adapt to the
change. What
’
s more, the
author,
“
William
Faulkner objectifies his complicated and emotional
involvement in the
South and in the
people who grow up and live there ever
since
”
.