A rose
A rose for Emily, a short story written by William Faulkner, a famous American novelist, is a classic novel that condenses the essence of Faulkner's life. When I first read the title of this novel, I came up with a romantic picture of a charming little girl blushing and shyly holding a bright red rose, because roses symbolize romance and love in the West. But when I put myself into the article with such a happy mood to find out, I found that the plot of the novel was very different from what I imagined. This is a very sad tragic novel, which tells a love story ending in tragedy.
The story of the novel takes place in Jefferson town. The heroine of the novel, Miss Emily grielson, was born in a declining Southern aristocratic family, which can be said to be a declining aristocratic Miss. Emily thinks highly of herself, and her father is strict, so she drives away all the men who come to the door. Therefore, she is still unmarried in her late thirties. Long term depression makes her character become arrogant and eccentric. After her father's death, Emily met and fell in love with Homer peron, a construction foreman from the north. In order to be with Homer peron, Emily resolutely insisted on her love regardless of the comments behind the town and the dissuasion of her Godfather and close relatives. But the man she loved betrayed her and wanted to leave her, so Emily poisoned Homer peron in pain and put her lover's bones in her home, He never went out again and lived in isolation with a corpse for more than 40 years. The truth was not discovered until people entered her home after her death.
The whole plot of the novel takes Emily as the main line, with a total of five sections. It does not use the first person protagonist's own inner monologue to narrate the story, but from the perspective of an onlooker to describe a series of events that occurred to express the tragedy of women in an era. It uses a non-traditional third person narrative technique, which is rational and objective, as if we were watching these things happen one after another. At the beginning of the novel, Emily's funeral is first written, and then at the end, her death is returned. The connection between the beginning and the end is seamless. Although the sequence of several things written in the middle is chaotic and reversed, there are suspense repeatedly, giving the reader a sense of urgency that the closer to the end, the more he wants to uncover the truth.
The ending of the novel is surprising, shocking and creepy. After reading this novel, I have been thinking about how strong and morbid love and hatred can make a woman willing to spend more than 40 years painting the ground as a prison, only guarding a corpse. Perhaps it was because she had been desperate to pursue it with all her strength, and it was almost realized, but she was finally ruthlessly abandoned. Such a huge gap made Emily's long suppressed heart collapse, "her heart will never be quiet, and her spirit will always carry a huge burden", and her psychology finally became distorted and deformed.
I think a well-known novel must have its unique cultural connotation that is worth exploring and thinking about. So I read and tasted this novel again and again. I read it seven or eight times before and after. Each time, I had different gains and experiences. In my opinion, the most wonderful part of this novel lies in the symbolic meanings hidden behind it. Although the novel is short, it uses a lot of symbolism in this work, and the meaning and emotion expressed by symbolism are thought-provoking and thought-provoking. I roughly divide these symbolic images into three categories: the symbol of the story background, the symbol of characters, and the symbol of objects.
1. The symbol of the story background
At the beginning of the novel, There is such a passage: "It was a large square wooden house painted white in the past. It was located on the most elegant street in those days. It was also decorated with a round roof, minarets and a balcony with scroll patterns in the style of the 1870s. It had a strong lightness, but things like the garage and the cotton ginning machine violated the solemn names of this area and painted them completely. Only Miss Emily's house stood alone and was surrounded by it Cotton cart and gasoline pump. Although the house is dilapidated, it is still rebellious and pretentious. It is really the ugliness of ugliness. " On the surface, this passage seems to be that Emily's house is out of tune with the surrounding environment, but it actually symbolizes the conflict and confrontation between the traditional conservative cultural ideas of the South and the emerging industrial civilization ideas of the north. The author uses Emily's house to symbolize the conservative aristocracy of the south, and uses emerging industries such as cars and cotton carts to represent the emerging bourgeoisie of the north at that time, This essentially symbolizes the contradiction between the old and new ideas and the conflict between the old and new lifestyles.
2. Symbols of characters
(1) The protagonist Emily. Emily has multiple and complex symbolic meanings. First of all, Emily was born in a declining Southern noble family. She symbolizes the old traditions and concepts of the south. "Miss Emily Gleason passed away, and the whole town went to the funeral: the men were out of admiration, because a monument fell down," he said in the opening paragraph The "fall of the monument" in this sentence means the collapse of the old ideas of the old system in the South represented by Emily and others. It is an alternation of old and new ideas and systems in society. It is an inevitable trend for the new system to replace the old system.
Secondly, Emily has been living under the strict control of her father since childhood. It is mentioned in the article: "her father drove away all young men." Therefore, Emily was not married when she was nearly thirty. After her father died, she released her pent up feelings for many years, met Homer peron, a construction foreman from the north, and quickly fell in love with him. Even if she knew how many obstacles she would encounter with the northerners, even if the people in the town talked behind their backs, even if the priest and close relatives did not agree, Emily bravely insisted in the midst of opposition and did not retreat at all. Here, Emily symbolizes the great female image who bravely broke through the shackles and shackles of social customs and fought for love without fear. When Homer peron finally abandoned Emily, Emily was not heartbroken, but poisoned him with arsenic, and put his body in her house, guarding the body for more than 40 years until she died. Here, Emily symbolizes an image of a woman who wanted to break free from bondage, but was more and more bound, and finally gave in to reality in despair.
Finally, we can see in the article that when the delegation went to Emily's home to persuade her to pay taxes, Emily just repeated the same sentence coldly and unkindly: "I have no tax in Jefferson." And do not recognize the Sheriff of the government authorities, only recognize the words of the former mayor who has been dead for nearly a decade; In addition, after the free mail system was implemented in the whole town, only Emily refused to nail the metal house number and attach the mail box at her door. From the above two points, we can clearly see that Emily has completely determined to isolate herself from the modern progressive society and only adhere to the old systems and concepts. Here we say that Emily symbolizes the victim of the old traditional systems and moral concepts, and is a typical tragic figure.
(2) Emily's father. There are not many words about Emily's father in the novel. The only thing that can reflect her character image is this sentence: "Miss Emily, who is slim and wearing white clothes, stands behind her. The profile of her father with his feet spread out in front, his back to Emily, holding a whip in his hand, and a backward front door just embeds the figures of them." From this passage, we can realize that this is a strict and ferocious father. Indeed, the same is true. He severely controlled Emily, interfered in everything about her, and recognized the noble status of the Gleason family, so he drove away all the young people who liked Emily. Therefore, we say that Emily's father symbolizes a typical decadent thinker who supports old traditions and old ideas and has strong class discrimination.
(3) The protagonist's lover Homer peron. This is a construction foreman from the north, who symbolizes the newly rising industrial bourgeois civilization in the north. He came to this town, paved sidewalks, and brought the knowledge and skills of the northern industrial civilization to the south, which also reflects the collision between the new system and the old system and the old civilization. And it didn't take long for the whole town to know him. The place he stood was the center of the crowd, and Emily fell in love with him, which also symbolized the inevitable trend of the new system and civilization in the North replacing the old system and civilization in the south.
3. Symbol of things (Rose)
The title of the novel is a rose for Emily. Roses symbolize beautiful and romantic love in Western concepts, but after reading the novel, we can find that Emily did not get real love in her life. In the whole novel, there is only one mention of roses. He wrote: "this room, which is arranged like a new house, seems to be covered with a faint gloomy atmosphere like a tomb everywhere: faded rose curtains, rose roof covers, and dressing tables." This is a description of Emily and Homer peron's new house. We can see that more than 40 years ago, this house may be very beautiful and warm. It has rose colored curtains, a top cover and a dressing table, and everything presents a romantic and happy appearance. However, in the end, it became as gloomy and desolate as a tomb, and the once beautiful rose colored curtains and roof coverings finally lost their color, which also symbolized that Emily had tried her best to pursue that beautiful love, but in the end, she couldn't ask for it and went to a tragic end.
Although Emily didn't get the rose like love she really wanted in her life, the title of the novel is a rose for Emily, which is not only an expression of the author's deep sympathy for the tragic life of the protagonist Emily, but also a tribute to Emily. She has bravely worked hard to pursue the love she wants and fought against the secular world. Even if it is still a tragedy in the end, at least she has struggled to pursue it, She was admirable, so Faulkner wanted to give her a rose.
I think our life should be like this at least once: try our best to pursue what we want, either ideal or love. Don't be afraid of others' opinions, and don't care too much about what will happen if we fail. As long as we really work hard and pay, even if we still fail in the end, it is also beautiful and regretless to fail. Remember, what is more failure than failure is that you don't have the courage to face failure at the beginning.
Finally, I wish we can all be lucky to find the most precious rose in our life.
The story of the novel takes place in Jefferson town. The heroine of the novel, Miss Emily grielson, was born in a declining Southern aristocratic family, which can be said to be a declining aristocratic Miss. Emily thinks highly of herself, and her father is strict, so she drives away all the men who come to the door. Therefore, she is still unmarried in her late thirties. Long term depression makes her character become arrogant and eccentric. After her father's death, Emily met and fell in love with Homer peron, a construction foreman from the north. In order to be with Homer peron, Emily resolutely insisted on her love regardless of the comments behind the town and the dissuasion of her Godfather and close relatives. But the man she loved betrayed her and wanted to leave her, so Emily poisoned Homer peron in pain and put her lover's bones in her home, He never went out again and lived in isolation with a corpse for more than 40 years. The truth was not discovered until people entered her home after her death.
The whole plot of the novel takes Emily as the main line, with a total of five sections. It does not use the first person protagonist's own inner monologue to narrate the story, but from the perspective of an onlooker to describe a series of events that occurred to express the tragedy of women in an era. It uses a non-traditional third person narrative technique, which is rational and objective, as if we were watching these things happen one after another. At the beginning of the novel, Emily's funeral is first written, and then at the end, her death is returned. The connection between the beginning and the end is seamless. Although the sequence of several things written in the middle is chaotic and reversed, there are suspense repeatedly, giving the reader a sense of urgency that the closer to the end, the more he wants to uncover the truth.
The ending of the novel is surprising, shocking and creepy. After reading this novel, I have been thinking about how strong and morbid love and hatred can make a woman willing to spend more than 40 years painting the ground as a prison, only guarding a corpse. Perhaps it was because she had been desperate to pursue it with all her strength, and it was almost realized, but she was finally ruthlessly abandoned. Such a huge gap made Emily's long suppressed heart collapse, "her heart will never be quiet, and her spirit will always carry a huge burden", and her psychology finally became distorted and deformed.
I think a well-known novel must have its unique cultural connotation that is worth exploring and thinking about. So I read and tasted this novel again and again. I read it seven or eight times before and after. Each time, I had different gains and experiences. In my opinion, the most wonderful part of this novel lies in the symbolic meanings hidden behind it. Although the novel is short, it uses a lot of symbolism in this work, and the meaning and emotion expressed by symbolism are thought-provoking and thought-provoking. I roughly divide these symbolic images into three categories: the symbol of the story background, the symbol of characters, and the symbol of objects.
1. The symbol of the story background
At the beginning of the novel, There is such a passage: "It was a large square wooden house painted white in the past. It was located on the most elegant street in those days. It was also decorated with a round roof, minarets and a balcony with scroll patterns in the style of the 1870s. It had a strong lightness, but things like the garage and the cotton ginning machine violated the solemn names of this area and painted them completely. Only Miss Emily's house stood alone and was surrounded by it Cotton cart and gasoline pump. Although the house is dilapidated, it is still rebellious and pretentious. It is really the ugliness of ugliness. " On the surface, this passage seems to be that Emily's house is out of tune with the surrounding environment, but it actually symbolizes the conflict and confrontation between the traditional conservative cultural ideas of the South and the emerging industrial civilization ideas of the north. The author uses Emily's house to symbolize the conservative aristocracy of the south, and uses emerging industries such as cars and cotton carts to represent the emerging bourgeoisie of the north at that time, This essentially symbolizes the contradiction between the old and new ideas and the conflict between the old and new lifestyles.
2. Symbols of characters
(1) The protagonist Emily. Emily has multiple and complex symbolic meanings. First of all, Emily was born in a declining Southern noble family. She symbolizes the old traditions and concepts of the south. "Miss Emily Gleason passed away, and the whole town went to the funeral: the men were out of admiration, because a monument fell down," he said in the opening paragraph The "fall of the monument" in this sentence means the collapse of the old ideas of the old system in the South represented by Emily and others. It is an alternation of old and new ideas and systems in society. It is an inevitable trend for the new system to replace the old system.
Secondly, Emily has been living under the strict control of her father since childhood. It is mentioned in the article: "her father drove away all young men." Therefore, Emily was not married when she was nearly thirty. After her father died, she released her pent up feelings for many years, met Homer peron, a construction foreman from the north, and quickly fell in love with him. Even if she knew how many obstacles she would encounter with the northerners, even if the people in the town talked behind their backs, even if the priest and close relatives did not agree, Emily bravely insisted in the midst of opposition and did not retreat at all. Here, Emily symbolizes the great female image who bravely broke through the shackles and shackles of social customs and fought for love without fear. When Homer peron finally abandoned Emily, Emily was not heartbroken, but poisoned him with arsenic, and put his body in her house, guarding the body for more than 40 years until she died. Here, Emily symbolizes an image of a woman who wanted to break free from bondage, but was more and more bound, and finally gave in to reality in despair.
Finally, we can see in the article that when the delegation went to Emily's home to persuade her to pay taxes, Emily just repeated the same sentence coldly and unkindly: "I have no tax in Jefferson." And do not recognize the Sheriff of the government authorities, only recognize the words of the former mayor who has been dead for nearly a decade; In addition, after the free mail system was implemented in the whole town, only Emily refused to nail the metal house number and attach the mail box at her door. From the above two points, we can clearly see that Emily has completely determined to isolate herself from the modern progressive society and only adhere to the old systems and concepts. Here we say that Emily symbolizes the victim of the old traditional systems and moral concepts, and is a typical tragic figure.
(2) Emily's father. There are not many words about Emily's father in the novel. The only thing that can reflect her character image is this sentence: "Miss Emily, who is slim and wearing white clothes, stands behind her. The profile of her father with his feet spread out in front, his back to Emily, holding a whip in his hand, and a backward front door just embeds the figures of them." From this passage, we can realize that this is a strict and ferocious father. Indeed, the same is true. He severely controlled Emily, interfered in everything about her, and recognized the noble status of the Gleason family, so he drove away all the young people who liked Emily. Therefore, we say that Emily's father symbolizes a typical decadent thinker who supports old traditions and old ideas and has strong class discrimination.
(3) The protagonist's lover Homer peron. This is a construction foreman from the north, who symbolizes the newly rising industrial bourgeois civilization in the north. He came to this town, paved sidewalks, and brought the knowledge and skills of the northern industrial civilization to the south, which also reflects the collision between the new system and the old system and the old civilization. And it didn't take long for the whole town to know him. The place he stood was the center of the crowd, and Emily fell in love with him, which also symbolized the inevitable trend of the new system and civilization in the North replacing the old system and civilization in the south.
3. Symbol of things (Rose)
The title of the novel is a rose for Emily. Roses symbolize beautiful and romantic love in Western concepts, but after reading the novel, we can find that Emily did not get real love in her life. In the whole novel, there is only one mention of roses. He wrote: "this room, which is arranged like a new house, seems to be covered with a faint gloomy atmosphere like a tomb everywhere: faded rose curtains, rose roof covers, and dressing tables." This is a description of Emily and Homer peron's new house. We can see that more than 40 years ago, this house may be very beautiful and warm. It has rose colored curtains, a top cover and a dressing table, and everything presents a romantic and happy appearance. However, in the end, it became as gloomy and desolate as a tomb, and the once beautiful rose colored curtains and roof coverings finally lost their color, which also symbolized that Emily had tried her best to pursue that beautiful love, but in the end, she couldn't ask for it and went to a tragic end.
Although Emily didn't get the rose like love she really wanted in her life, the title of the novel is a rose for Emily, which is not only an expression of the author's deep sympathy for the tragic life of the protagonist Emily, but also a tribute to Emily. She has bravely worked hard to pursue the love she wants and fought against the secular world. Even if it is still a tragedy in the end, at least she has struggled to pursue it, She was admirable, so Faulkner wanted to give her a rose.
I think our life should be like this at least once: try our best to pursue what we want, either ideal or love. Don't be afraid of others' opinions, and don't care too much about what will happen if we fail. As long as we really work hard and pay, even if we still fail in the end, it is also beautiful and regretless to fail. Remember, what is more failure than failure is that you don't have the courage to face failure at the beginning.
Finally, I wish we can all be lucky to find the most precious rose in our life.