The Story of an Hour vs A Rose for Emily Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Story of an Hour vs A Rose for Emily - Essay Example Jefferson stands to embrace a more commercial and contemporary future although it is remains perched on past events and circumstances. The past is especially reflected in the faded glory of the Grierson home and town cemetery where unknown soldiers who participated in the Civil War were long buried. Emily is deeply rooted in tradition remaining in the same position for many years despite the explicit changes in the community she is living in. Emily as a character is both a blessing and curse to her community. She is a blessing in that she represents the traditions of the people she wishes to honor and respect. On the other hand, she is a burden and cut from the rest of the world and nurses peculiarities that other people cannot understand as she acts outside common expectation. She lives in her own world that is timeless; she refuses the affixation of the metallic numbers to the side of her house when her town receives modern mail service. Jefferson highly regards the traditional notions of reputation and honor although the narrator criticizes the old men who gather for her funeral. Death is very eminent in the story; the narrator mentions the death of Emily at the beginning of the story (Faulkner 1). There is a clear description of Emily’s death and haunted life even as the community traditions are expressed in the wake of modern changes. The Emily fixture in the community paves way for slow death. She is compared to a drowned woman and she is referred to as having a small spare skeleton. Her charm and respectability declines over the years much like the Griersons’ outdated sensibilities. Emily’s point of view regarding death and changes in life is quite different from what the other members of the society believe. Emily attempts to deny the facts of death; her weird relationship to the dead bodies of the men she loved is exposed when her father dies. She does not admit the death of her father and she lives in denial of the truth. Her reaction to the