Faulkner’s Short Stories Essay

A Rose for Emily and Barn Burning is both short stories created by William Faulkner. In both short stories, Faulkner used the obsolete southern backing as his denotations orientation of culture and societal norms. Emily from the story of A rose for Emily and Abner from the story of Barn Burning both culpable of terrible annoyances, terror and wildness yet Faulkner, with his creativity and unconventional talent in creating literature, sliceage to generate sympathy for both characters.The continuous used of the Old South as the main setting of his both short stories suggests that the characters predicaments have to do with the places history. Though Emily and Abner are both portrayed as cruel and violent, Faulkner employed sympathy through subtly demonstrating that they are just victims of society, history and culture. Emily and Abners revelation of their dark side hu cosmos temper was been arouse by their past experiences in the hands of cruel society.Emilys character was cr eated with authentic insights about a woman who can not meet change. Emily was a spinster who was representn as a lonely and impoverished woman who was so abandoned to the past, a woman that shuts herself off from the rest of the world simply because she cannot accept change.The story begins with Emilys death at the age of 74 and flashes back to the near distant past of Emilys life. She was a character who was so attached in the tradition of the past that she continually personifies until her death. Faulkner used the pronoun we which tells that the storyteller is some of the townspeople sympathizing Emily. It is a well structured and detailed events of Emilys life the provide give a deeper understanding why there is pride and isolation in her character. Emilys structured character brought her to an unlucky fate. The story tells how Emily copes and accepted the nature of sequence, change and chance.Emilys father who represents the ruling class of the South contri entirelyed most in the construction of her pride and arrogance. Emily was raised in an upper class fundament which make them prominent in the community. She perceived herself as rich and powerful which motivated her poise and bearing. Their position in the community had unconsciously taught her to hold herself lofty from the surrounding people even after her fathers death. As time passes by, perspective about class and status change.People accepted the changes of time and ideas. But Emily who was a complex and well developed character chose not to adapt. This made her a grotesque or unique personality in the setting that encouraged the townspeople to analyze her life.Faulkners sympathy towards Emily is perceived through the narrators tone and how he symbolically represents the rose in congeneric to Emilys life. The rose in the story represents affection. It is affection given by the narrator to Emily. Other people may perceive Emilys pride and violence as something immoral, but the narrators po int of view towards Emily is contrary. He clearly sympathize with Emily and understands the reason how Emily constructed such character.The narrator justified her through presenting serial of events about her past. She was a victim of bitterness and complete attachment. The community itself during her fathers time constructed her different reality that made her of what she became. I can overly suggest that the rose in the story represents Emilys love for Homer. It represents the soft side of Emily which the outside world can not see. She was perceived differently by the people as a scandalous and proud. But Emily like any other needs love and affection. Her love was violent and harsh though which represents the thorns of the rose.The narrator gave detailed events of Emilys history which suggests the gossip nature of the southern town where everyone knows every body else. In the beginning of the story, the author emphasized those women in town had a different perspective in attend ing Emilys funeral. Emily was respected by the men of the town but women were driven by curiosity. This suggests the domestic nature of women that time that seems more(prenominal) concern to the detailed events of Emilys life. Women wanted to appease their long curiosity. Most of the time ladies in town find Emilys scandalous and unusual. They find Emily a threat to the community. She was a symbol of the past.Other readers may perceive this horrifying when the people in town discovered the secret of Emily after her death. She has kept the body of her lover named Homer Baron locked in a separate bedroom after she killed him years before. But the body was not alone. The Northern man had been locked with an overcompensate since behind the indented pillow was a strand of iron-gray hair of Emily. The dead man had not died without love and attention. It was a horrifying in a government agency that Homers death was not given a social justice. But it was sad for Emily who wanted to give love and be loved but the circumstances and public opinion will no permit her so.The morality of Miss Emily Grierson was not justified in the end of the story. The consequences of her isolation and pride made the townspeople pity her all the more. withal, her solitude made her missed significant chances of her happiness. Though destiny and fate is a choice but we must view the factors that influenced Emilys choices. The narrator was so clever on how he presented Emily not as an antagonist but a woman that has to be sympathized which made me see her as a victim.Abner on the other hand on the Barn Burning story is a barn burner and who have a 10year old son named Sarty who always wish to death that his father will stop his horrifying and unjust activity. Abner finds perverse sense of joy in setting a rout out on someone else barn without reconsidering that farmers hold their livestock and harvested crops on barns which provide food and money for the farmers and their families in or der to survive. Moreover, Abner also neer reconsidered that his activity and crime may affect his sons sense of morality at his very early age since his activities of barn tan is no secret in the family.Faulkner generates a sense of sympathy to Abners character when he narrated Abners past involvement during Civil War. Abner grew accustomed to building small fires as a way to hide from troops during civil war. The threat of fire is Abner one and only source of power. Fire spoke to some deep mainspring of Abners character as the one weapon for the preservation of integrity . . . and hence to be regarded with respect and used with discretion.Fire is Abners unconscious defense mechanism accept that no one will ever harm him anymore. In setting fire, he unconsciously acquired sense of power, protection and confidence that he will never be defeated by anyone who cross his path and anger him.His experience in war continually haunts him. Ab has never held an allegiance to any man or thi ng.In war, to kill is for the purpose of self preservation. After the war, he has not changed. When he experience pressure to an employer or to any authority, he takes off the power from them through burning what they own. Someone who is more superior than him is bound to destruction. When one is gone, he moves on and takes another again. Abner is basically a Southern man attached by the role given to him during civil war that a mans place in the society is derived by their actions during the war. In burning barns, Abner accumulates a sense of pride and of manliness disregarding that the war is over and that his life is now in reality.Through the character of Abner, Faulkner illustrated the destructive psychological effect of war and how it distorts the participants sense of morality. Abners character manifests wars ugly truths which are in contrast to the ideas of glory, courage and heroism associated with war. When the war ends, they perceive that everything is over. However for those who experience it, there is a greater battle that not everybody understands. Abner as a participant of civil war destroyed. He became a victim of semipolitical conflict.Both Emily and Abners actions were motivated by the psychological effects brought to them by war and societal norms and standards.