Analysis on A Rose for Emily

一、introduction

The short story A Rose for Emily is narrated mostly from a first-person-plural perspective. We can see this from his use of “our” and “we”， referring to the townspeople who are narrating with a unified voice representing the mainstream of the Southern white society. For example， at the beginning of story， “When Miss Emily Grierson died， our whole town went to her funeral”. （page 185）； “we did not say she was crazy then. We believed she had to do that. We remembered all the young men her father had driven away”（page 190）；From this narrative point of view， the readers have a feeling that we are invited to experience the whole process and better understand the townspeople’s attitude towards Emily， While first person has its limitation in describing some hidden events especially for such a secluded eccentric woman， Miss Emily Grierson ， and so the author alternate the point of view in the story， adopting the Omniscient point of view， for example， we can clearly see such a description， “ four men crossed Miss Emily’s lawn and slunk about the house like burglars，”. Apparently only adopting Omniscient point of view such a secret event can be seen. Another example is after Emily buys the arsenic back home there is a description， “When she opened the package at home there was written on the box under the skull and bones： for rats”. It is obvious that for a secluded lady， nobody can know what happened at her home and only from the Omniscient point of view when can see the details. The alternate point of view can be clearly seen at the end of the story. At the end of the story， the narrator says that “Already we knew that there was one room in that region above stairs which no one had seen in forty years， and which would have to be forced.” However， we never know how the narrator knows about the sealed -up room. Then， the narrator starts to use “they” instead of “we” to refer to the townspeople. “They waited until Miss Emily was decently in the ground before they opened it.” The shift from “we” to “they” is rather sudden and so confusing. And after a few lines， the narrator returns to “we” again： “For a long while we just stood there， looking down at the profound and fleshless grin.”

二、The specific style in A Rose for Emily

1. Dialogues in the Story.In literary creation， the creator will use distinctive language to reflect the characteristics of the characters. That is to say let his or her language to express his or her idea， identity， experience， personality and so forth. From characters’ distinctive language can help the readers better understand the characters themselves？ According to the sentence structure， the English sentences can be classified into simple sentences， coordinated sentences and complex sentences. According to length， the English sentences can be classified into short sentences and long sentences. Long sentences are employed for detailed description， explanation and argument and are characterized by logic， completeness and formality giving a solemn feeling to the readers， while short sentences are often used in oral English to express the meaning directly， briefly， forcefully. William Faulkner is skillful at using language. In the short story A Rose for Emily， many long sentences with complex structure are used to describe the plot. As Emily’s a symbol， tradition and duty of the town， and she’s also the talking point of the townspeople ，when describing Emily’s death and the towns people’s response towards her death， the author use a fifty-six-word complex long sentence to show her important position and to produce an effect of solemn feeling. While in the whole story， there are two conversations between Emily and the others. One is the conversation between Emily and the deputation， and the other is between Emily and the druggist. The following is the conversation between Emily and the deputation.

Her voice was dry and cold. \"I have no taxes in Jefferson. Colonel Sartor is explained it to me. Perhaps one of you can gain access to the city records and satisfy yourselves.\"

“But we have. We are the city authorities， Miss Emily. Didn't you get a notice from the sheriff， signed by him？”

“I received a paper， yes，\" Miss Emily said. \"Perhaps he considers himself the sheriff . . . I have no taxes in Jefferson.”

“But there is nothing on the books to show that， you see We must go by the--”

“See Colonel Sartoris. I have no taxes in Jefferson.”

“But， Miss Emily--”

“See Colonel Sartoris.” （Colonel Sartoris had been dead almost ten years.） “I have no taxes in Jefferson. To be！” The Negro appeared. “Show these gentlemen out.”

Obviously from the above conversation， we can see Miss Emily only uses short sentences. She uses “I” five times and in each of her reply she says \"I have no taxes in Jefferson. \" She repeats the sentence \"I have no taxes in Jefferson. \" four times. These short sentences show Miss Emily doesn’t want to talk much to the deputation， and doesn’t want to give the deputation more information and the short sentences show her coldness and dislike of them. Miss Emily starts her sentences with “I” which reflects she put herself in a high position. As she is the descendant of the aristocratic family， their family used to be superior in the town and this gives her a sense of superiority. Meanwhile the word “I” also shows she’s very arrogant and vain， refusing to accept the reality has changed greatly comparing to the past. She repeats “I have no taxes in Jefferson. ” in each of her dialogue with the deputation which reflects her firm attitude toward the matter and gives us a image that she is a tough woman to deal with. The short sentences also reflect Miss Emily is a woman with little words and her refusal to communicate with the outside world and also reflect her solitude inside. Another example further verifies her distinctive personality is her conversation with the druggist.

“I want some poison，” she said to the druggist. She was over thirty then， still a slight woman， though thinner than usual， with cold， haughty black eyes in a face the flesh of which was strained across the temples and about the eye sockets as you imagine a lighthouse-keeper's face ought to look. “I want some poison，” she said.

“Yes， Miss Emily. What kind？ For rats and such？ I'd recommit--”

“I want the best you have. I don't care what kind.”

The druggist named several. “They'll kill anything up to an elephant. But what you want is--”

“Arsenic，”Miss Emily said. “Is that a good one？”

“Is . . . arsenic？ Yes， ma'am. But what you want--”

“I want arsenic.”

In this short dialogue， Emily she interrupts the druggist three times and she uses short sentences starting with “I” to make orders which also shows she’s cold arrogant and vain. She repeats “I want some poison” twice show her firm attitude towards buying the poison. she has already made up her mind to do so. These examples show she is she strong-willed person. She will never give up until achieve the goal so it’s easy to explain the discovery of her killing Hommer Barron in the end.

2. Figurative Usage of Language

Another distinctive feature of William Faulkner’s writing style is his generous use

of figurative languages.

1） Alliteration.The repetition of the initial consonant cluster in stress syllables， which usually used to form a connection of similarity or a connection of contrast.

e.g. “It was a big， squeamish frame house that had once been white， decorated with cupolas and spires and scrolled balconies in the heavily lightsome style of the seventies， set on what have once been our most select street.”

The use of alliteration in “squeamish”， “spires”， “scrolled”， “style”， “seventies”， “set”， “select” and “street” helps the writer to keep the readers interested in the story despite of its long and complex sentence structure.

2） Synecdoche.Synecdoche refers to using the name of part of an object to talk about the whole thing. It is a subdivision of metonymy because it also involves using the name of something connected with an object or concept to replace the original name of the object， or concept.

e.g. That night the Board of Aldermen met three graybeards and one younger man， a member of the rising generation.”

Here he uses “three graybeards” to refer to three old men.

3 ）Simile.A simile is a way of comparing one thing with another， of explaining what one thing is like by showing how it is similar to another thing， and it explicitly signals itself in a text， with the words as or like.

e.g. “She looked bloated， like a body long submerged in motionless water， and of that pallid hue. Her eyes， lost in the fatty ridges of her face， looked like two small pieces of coal pressed into a lump of dough as they moved from one face to another while the visitors stated their errand.”

4） Parallel.e.g. “A thin， acrid pall as of the tomb seemed to lie everywhere upon this room decked and furnished as for bridal： upon the valance curtains of faded rose color， upon the rose-shaped lights， upon the dressing table， upon the delicate array of crystal and the man’s toilet things backed with tarnished silver， silver so tarnished that the monogram was obscured.”

Here， “upon…upon…upon…” is a use of parallel. The use of parallel here helps the reader follow the thoughts of the writer.

III. Conclusion

With all the evidence listed above， at least we may conclude that Faulkner’s writing style， as is revealed by an examination of the most prominent linguistic features in “A rose for Emily”， is something uniquely distinctive. He is a master in story-telling and adopting a variety of stylistic techniques in his creation. In the short story “A rose for Emily”， special point of view， distinctive dialogues， many figures of speech and other writing techniques are used to make the story more readable and attractive.

Reference books

1 William Faulkner，M.Thomas Inge.A Rose for

Emily [M].Columbus，OH.：Charles E.Merrill

Publishing Company，1970：2

2 William Faulkner，M.Thomas Inge.A Rose for

Emily [M].Columbus，OH.：Charles E.Merrill

Publishing Company，1970：19