A Critical Study of A Rose for Emily ItsNarrative Techniques and Structure

1、?？思{獻給愛米莉的玫瑰花的敘事技巧與結構a critical study of a rose for emily :its narrative techniques and structurecontentsabstract.1key words.1i. introduction to william faulkner and his works.21.1 introduction to william faulkner.21.2 introduce the works of william faulkner.4ii. summary of a rose for emily.4iii. the

2、 character of novel figures.53.1 the feature of emily grierson.53.1.1 alienated.53.1.2 proud.63.1.3 fighting for her right.63.2 the feature of homer barron.63.3 the feature of emilys father.73.4 the negro.73.5the narrator.7iv. the narrative techniques of the novel.84.1 the use of symbol.84.2 gothic.

3、9.4.3 repetition.94.4 metonymy.104.5 the description of the novel.10v. the structure of the novel105.1 analysis thestructure of every parts of the novel.105.2 anachronies.11vi. conclusion.12reference.12摘要：美國作家福克納是20世紀杰出的作家之一。作者以獨特的敘事技巧與結構來表現(xiàn)自己的思想及主題。其文學創(chuàng)作的高超技巧在短篇小說獻給愛米麗的玫瑰中運用自如。本文通過對?？思{短篇小說獻給愛米麗的玫瑰敘

4、事結構，即：象征、哥特式、時間錯置、描寫、時間結構以及從不同人物性格分析等入手，研究作者的敘事技巧與結構在文中的體現(xiàn)。同時， 對作者的生平和主要作品， 以及作品主要內容進行介紹， 使我們能更好地了解文章的主題及作者的敘事技巧與結構在獻給愛米麗的玫瑰中的體現(xiàn)。本文可以幫助讀者解析獻給愛米麗的玫瑰, 并從中領略到作者的藝術風采。關鍵詞：福克納; 敘事技巧; 敘事結構; 愛米麗; 分析abstract: william faulkner is one of great american writers of the 20th century. faulkner displays his though

5、t and theme with unique narrative techniques and structure. he uses the narrative techniques in the short story a rose for emily smoothly. this paper researches the authors narrative techniques and structure in a rose for emily from narrative techniquethe following aspects: the use of symbol, the go

6、thic, the anachronism, the description, the repetition of the short story and structure. readers can have a clear view on the authors thought when the main characters are analyzed in the short story. at the same time, they can get a general idea of the authors living, his main works and the main ide

7、a of the short story. all of these can help readers have a better understanding of the theme ofthe narrative techniques and structure, which are displayed in the short story. the works of william faulkner understand difficulty. this paper researches analysis a rose for emily, readers can understandi

8、ng the short story easily. from the a rose for emily we can enjoy the charming of william faulkner.key words: william faulkner; narrative technique; narrative structure; emily; analysisi. introduction to william faulkner and his works1.1 introduction to william faulknerthere is no region in the u.s.

9、 that contains as much beauty, violence, passion, courage and, finally, tragedy, as the american south. and in the 20th century, there is no novelist who more powerfully and eloquently represents this region in his fiction than william faulkner. he is one of the famous imagism writers. he has deeply

10、 influenced the 20th century of american literature.the fact that william faulkner was born into a southern family with a fairly long tradition is perhaps the most important of all the influences that made him what he becamea major writer in american literature. the town of oxford where he was broug

11、ht up and studied briefly at the university became the model for his fictional jefferson, the seat of his fictional yoknalpatawpha county. his own family history found its way into his novels; the members of his family, including his great grandfather, grandfather, and his parents and brother, prove

12、d to be valuable prototypes for his fictional characters. and his knowledge of the life of the american deep south, with its tragic history of rise and fall in its fortunes, its ways and mores, and its language, all fused in his imagination and recreated, became the substance of a faulknerian world

13、strangely inspiring both nostalgia and a sense of impending doom in modern readers.like most writers of his generation, faulkner was eager to go to the first world war, and like fitzgerald he was never sent to europe. he joined the royal flying crops in canada and was still under training when the w

14、ar was over. he returned to the united states, attended the university of mississippi for a year, and supported himself with a variety of odd jobs in new york and oxford. in his lifetime faulkner cultivated a literary friendship with two men which was of great value to his career. the first of these

15、 was phli stone, a lawyer widely read in classic literature and modern french and english authors, who introduced him to the world of rising american writers such as frost, pound, and sherwood anderson, and who paid, in 1924, for the publication of a book of his pomes, the marble faun. through the r

16、ecommendation of phil stone, faulkner became acquainted with sherwood anderson in new orleans, who helped him to write and publish his first novel, soldiers pay(1926) new orleans was then a literary center of a kind, where the little magazine, double dealer, published avantgarde poetry. there faulkn

17、er learned about james joyed, joseph conrad, and signund freud. in 1925 he went on a trip to europe, saw joyce, his idol from afar, and was impressed by modern painting.his first two novels, soldiers pay and mosquitoes (1927), were not very promising, but sartoris(1929) revealed faulkners fuller dev

18、elopment as a writer. for the first time he entered his fictional county and began to create a world of his own. with sartoris his training as a writer came to a close. his next book, the sound and the fury (1929), was definitely the mature work of a major author. in 1930 as i lay dying came out, an

19、d what had apparently begun to worry him was the lack of obvious critical acclaim for his work. he then contrived the sexually aggressive and sensational plot of sanctuary (1931) to shock the public into a kind of recognition. shock it did, but as it jarred on the nerves of the people, it earned him

20、 a rather bad reputation. during the next ten years, he continued to work on his yoknapatawpha county. his major works such as light in august(1932), absalom, absalom! (1936), and go down, moses (1942) appeared one after another. recognition came but slowly in his own country, though the french were

21、 quicker to spot his rise as one major author in american. both andre nalraux and jeanpaul sartre wrote serious, highly complimentary criticism on his work. in the early 1940s faulkner began to get a measure of the belated recognition, but it was also a fact to note that some of his works were begin

22、ning to be out of print.the moment came for him in 1946 when malcolm cowley edited the viking portable faulkner with a generous introduction of his works. faulkner became the center of critical attention. valuable studies were devoted to his high achievement in fiction. his mythic picture of the sou

23、th, his distinctive narrative method, and his skillful use of language were all profusely commented upon. the critical reaction that cowley touched off led, a few years later, to the nobel prize for literature, which faulkner won in 1950. by now faulkners place in literature was secure.faulkner wrot

24、e altogether 18 novels and three volumes of short stories. of these thort novels, the sound and the fury, absalom, absalom! and go down, moses are masterpieces by any literary standards, and seven of eight others are very impressive. here the deep south is delineated in as minute detail as possible.

25、 its people, black and white, its small towns with their counthouses, jails, stores and statues, its soil, rivers, and change of seasons are all parts of the general picture. indeed, faulkners works have been termed the yoknapatawpha saga, “one connected story,” on “mythical kingdom” (the words are

26、malcolm cowleys) he writes about the histories of a number of southern aristocratic families such as the compsons, the sartorises, the sutpens and mcacaslins, and traces them back to the very beginning when the chickasaw indians were still lawful owners of the land. in the very rise of these family

27、fortunes, faulkner sees their inevitable fall. these white settlers may have dreamed, built great houses with confidence and courage, and achieved a degree of success in their golden past, but they can not escape the defeat to which they are doomed from the very outset, for they have displaced the i

28、ndians and enslaved the black race, thus putting a curse upon the land. when the same story of the tragic rise and fall recurs in one novel after another, it assumes symbolic proportions. it becomes clear that what faulkner is talking about concerns not merely the american south but the human situat

29、ion in general. the spiritual deterioration which characterizes modern life stems directly from the loss of love and want of emotional responsethat seems to be one important message of faulkners stories.1.2 introduction to the works of william faulknermost of faulkners major works are rooted in yokn

30、apatawpha country and its main town, jefferson, although they are imaginary places. both bear marked similarities to faulkners native oxford in lafayette country, mississippi. in his novels like sartoris 1929, the sound and the fury 1929, as i lay dying 1930, sanctuary 1931, light in august 1932, ab

31、salom, absalom! 1936, the hamlet 1940, and go down, moses 1942, not just single characters, but whole families as well as events and activities connected with them appear and re-appear as the central focus in one novel, as a minor focus in another, but all as part of an unfolding drama that function

32、s on more than one level. ii. summary of a rose for emily this story is narrated through a third persons point of view. the story is told from the townspeople. the story starts off with ms. emilys funeral. it states that “the men through a sort of respectful affection for a fallen monument, the wome

33、n mostly out of curiosity to see the inside of her house, which no one save an old man-servant-a combined gardener and cook-had seen in at least ten years.” as we can see, ms. emily was sort of like a mystery to citizens of the town. the author continuously uses symbolism in the story. when the depu

34、tation came to her house for her taxes, faulkner describes how the house and ms. emily looks. “only miss emilys house was left, lifting its stubborn and coquettish decay above the cotton wagons and the gasoline pumps-an eyesore among eyesores”, this statement explains how the house gives off such a

35、depressing mood. “her skeleton was small and spare” this line shows us how her appearance showcases death also. when ms. emily was young, her deceased father used to force away all the young men that were in love with her. the summer after her father death, she fell in love with a yankee by the name

36、 of homer barron. everyone in the town was whispering about their relationship and wondering if they were married. after a while they stop seeing homer and decided that they got married. the townspeople then proceeds by saying that ms. emily then died a while after. they didnt know she was sick.afte

37、r they buried her, they knew that there was one room that wasnt opened. so after they decently buried her they went to see upon the room. when they opened the room they were greeted by great amounts of dust. they also explain that the “room decked and furnished as for a bridal: upon the valance curt

38、ains of faded rose color, upon the rose-shaded lights, upon the dressing table, upon the delicate array of crystal and the mans toilet things backed with tarnished silver, silver so tarnished that the monogram was obscured.” they also saw a mans collar, tie, suit, shoes, and discarded socks. “then s

39、hockingly, laying right there in the bed was the man. for a long while we just stood there, looking down at the profound and fleshless grin. the body had apparently once lain in the attitude of an embrace. what was left of him, rotted beneath what was left of the nightshirt, had become inextricable

40、from the bed in which he lay; and upon him and upon the pillow beside him lay that even coating of the patient and biding dust. then we noticed that in the second pillow was the indentation of a head. one of us lifted something from it, and leaning forward, that faint and invisible dust dry and acri

41、d in the nostrils, we saw a long strand of iron-gray hair.”iii. the character of figures in the novel3.1 the feature of emily griersonthe surprise ending not only creates a powerful emotional effect onus, but also raises an important question about what we are to think of emily. is her tragic, poor

42、or simply mad?3.1.1 alienated in a rose for emily, miss grierson is a woman who is alienated and lives in isolation from the people in her town; the theme of isolation is the focal point of the story, since it is what drove her to her madness.emily grierson always lived in the past time; she stayed

43、at home everyday and had lost the concept of time. when the city authorities came to tell her that she no longer could run away from her taxes, she simply dispatched them by saying, “see colonel sartoris. i have no taxes in jefferson.” the only problem was that she passed away ten years ago. she did

44、nt want any intervention, nor was she in any need of compassion orcompassionship for the simple reason.3.1.2 proudgiving the reader a limited impression that as a character, she is shown with excessive pride, leaving and enduring imagination to readers, as to what she was as an adolescent.however sh

45、e would not let the tragic fact that she was a woman bring her down into the world of the “poor”. she would hold her head up high. it almost seems that to show the town that even though she was the last grierson, she was going to keep her head up high and act like a true noble woman, which was getti

46、ng what shewanted. but, she was still considered as “poor emily” in the eye of her fellow townspeople.3.1.3 fighting for her rightthere are two changes of emilys attended: one is deny her fathers death, refuse to pay taxes. the other isemily did not tell the druggist why she purchased rat poison fro

47、m this two attitudes we can find miss emily is a woman who had the whole town wondering what she was doing. once the man that she cared about life deserted her, either death or simply leaving her. shehid in her house anddidnt allow anyone to get to close to her. she was the perfect exampleof a woman

48、 alienated by a society controlled by man who makes trouble forher instead of helping hermiss emily cannot accept the fact that times are changing and society is growing.“i want arsenic”. at this point it appears that emily was fighting against the town. she is a woman who is fighting for her right

49、to live and to be happy as much as she can and fighting for the right that woman deserves to have, which is happiness be it if the man likes it or not. she hasntpresent andfuture; she hasnt freedom but live with her father; she hasnt true love she hasnt the true life of herself. so, she had to fight

50、 for her right and murder homer to keep him beside her for long time.emilygrierson is a tragic character. when we read the whole story, especially the chilling ending, we realized that emily was a murder and necrophilia; she loves his father very much.so,emily is an eccentric woman, her circumvent d

51、ecided shewas not able to live a normal life like any other woman.3.2 the features of homer barronafter emilys father died, emily fell in love with a yankee by the name of homer barron. he was a man from north america. there is a romantic story about her relationship with homer barron. but homer rem

52、arked: he liked men, and it was known that he drank with the younger men in the elks club that he was not a marring man. homer comes from north america, his worldview, feature and attitude is different from that of emily, and he hasnt responsibility. so, these lead homer to become a tragic character

53、. the proud emily hadnt permitted homer desert her, because she is the last grierson, she was going to keep her head up high. homer was murdered by emily, but if he had responsibility, he didnt like men, he faced to the love of seriously, he hadnt the tragic result. in that case, emily hadnt be push

54、ed into the deeply pain feeling.3.3 the feature of emilys fatheremilys father is the chief archetype, because he is the reason for emilys heartbreak. her fathers over -protection is evident in this passage, “we remembered all the young men her father had driven away, and we known that with nothing l

55、eft, she would have to cling to that which had robbed her, as people will”. her father robs her of many of lifes necessities. she misses out on having friends. being a normal woman”, and her ability to be happy, emily is not able to live a normal life that she indirectly blames on her father. emily

56、is living with her father and he is only man that she relies on. after her fathers death, emily still lived under his fathers shadow, and also the shadow of her aristocratic family-the grierson. she didnt accept the big change. she refused to disposeof herfathers body after his death and she put her

57、 fathers portrait in an eye- catching place because it was her connection to her past. her father is a killer who let emily live in the past forever and makes her get the happiness never and makes her doesnt accept every change.from the passage we can see that emilys father is a powerful man withmuch character, he secludedemily from society;he clued to control emilys moral life. hisold tradition and selfishness is the chief reason that led to the tragic resu