A Rose for EmilyEssay title: A Rose for EmilyVery often in literature, authors will use many techniques to show the chosen theme of the story. In “A Rose for Emily”, by William Faulkner, he uses the element of setting to help explain his ideas and the necrophilia of the main character. The term “necrophilia” is described by wikipedia.com as “an inordinate desire to control another person, usually in the context of a romantic or interpersonal relationship; the accusation is that the person is so interpersonally controlling as to be better-suited to have relationships with non-responsive people, such as the dead.” The setting of the story helps the reader to understand how the atmosphere of her society and the oppression of her father causes Emily to act as she does.
The setting of the story takes place in the South over a time span of about forty years. The story is structured into the two stages of past and present. We see the character of Emily shortly before her death; an aristocratic world that exists only in her mind is evident in the passage where she refuses to pay her taxes. Emily states “ I have no taxes in Jefferson” under the impression that her father had loaned the city money, which in fact was a lie formed by a man of the town to preserve Miss Emily’s aristocratic status when her fortune was lost. Shortly afterwards we are backtracked to foreshadowing of the unfolding events by visiting an incident in the past. Emily’s neighbors are bothered by an unpleasant smell coming from her house and go to a judge to complain about it. In this part of the story, we see the type of proper southern society Emily is in when the judge says “would you accuse a lady to her face of smelling bad?”. We see that the Southern influence greatly affects Emily’s personality and decisions. The people around her are constantly upholding her to a certain standard and expect things from her. Emily’s status is brought into question when she begins to date Homer Barron, a northern day laborer. Faulkner writes, “then some of the ladies began to say that it was a disgrace to the town and a bad example to the young people”. Upset by the courtship, the townsfolk called upon her kin to break up her relationship. We see by this that Emily’s decision making process was halted by her outside influences.
Emily’s bizarre treatment of Homer Barron’s body post mortem definitely lies in the relationship she had with her father in regards to men. It is apparent that Emily’s father purposely and promptly put to end any potential courtship that she may have had. This is evident in the passage “We remembered all the young men her father had driven away, and we knew that with nothing left, she would have to cling to that which had robbed her as people will”. Emily’s father robbed her from many of life’s basic things. Her aristocratic society causes her to miss out on being a “woman” and courting men. Her inability to live a normal life greatly affects her happiness which she indirectly blames on her father. Emily becomes so accustomed to her father’s presence
In conclusion, in sum, the evidence of the first chapter of the second chapter suggests that Emily was raped as a result of her father’s own sexual influence and by other men as well. There are obvious reasons to assume that Emily was the victim of sexual abuse at some time in her childhood. In particular, in light of the above mentioned case, it is possible that Emily’s father had committed incest with her daughter to a prior degree at the age of 22, as shown by her first confession (the third one (and so as far as we know there was no one outside the family who experienced what the first man had done in making these arrangements to her), and perhaps also by the fact that while her father was sexually abusing her, the child was a stranger, at some point, and as such, would not bear the trauma that he experienced. In a similar way, Emily’s childhood would have given her a “lulliness” as described earlier, if at all.
CONCLUSION.
The evidence suggests that Emily had a complete, complete sexual relationship with her father and other members of the family during her father’s lifetime. However, the more extensive evidence of this relationship, including the written testimony that was provided to the court and corroborating testimony that accompanied it, strongly suggest that the father never consented to her having her body parts taken away and, as such, is the only source of knowledge that would support an allegation of sexual abuse prior to the date Emily was conceived.
CONCLUSION.
Emily did not survive the war, and there is a possibility that this happened in some way other than the child’s father’s control over her body parts that she was using. However, some of the witnesses did present the evidence that was provided to her at the trial that would support a charge of abuse of the child under British law (see here for more on this case).
CONCLUSION.
The Crown must show that no children were harmed and that Emily’s body was taken from her birth mother (for a charge of abuse under British law under the 1940 Statute), which makes these facts unlikely except in light of the fact that no other evidence is available on this issue.
CONCLUSION.
There is nothing to suggest that the sexual abuse of children in general is simply random, but rather that this child’s sexual upbringing and relationship with her father were not part of his own pre-existing (or predefined) situation, that a father might have been sexually abusive of her, or that she might have been the sole source of information that could make an accusation.
In contrast, Emily’s body parts have evidence that suggest that there have been incestuous relationships from day one. In addition, there may be other items missing that would add fuel to any such incestuous relationship even though there is no evidence to support all three of the above.