Reflection Statement for A Rose for Emily

Reflection

I did a Marxist reading of A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner about how Emily was of high economic and social class but this highness in society was not enough to make her happy. I honestly only choose to do a Marxist reading of A Rose for Emily because it seemed the easiest to write. It was between A Rose for Emily or Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Suskind and honestly I love the novel, but I felt like I did not have enough time to reread a novel and write an essay based on a literary theory. Plus A Rose for Emily seemed more clear cut and much more manageable to work with. The short story had a lot to do with Emily’s socio-economic background and that is a crucial element for any Marxist reading.

In all honesty if I had performed a Reader-Response analysis on A Rose for Emily I would not have included quotations that obviously point out Emily’s high status in society because it would not have applied to Reader-Response. If I had done a Reader-Response analysis on A Rose for Emily I would have focused on how the reader felt about Emily’s inter turmoil about liking Homer Baron but also being raised in a way where she would have to abide by her father’s ways of life. Her father believed anyone of lower class could not marry his daughter. I would elaborate on how as a reader that I would feel with those conflicting emotions and how I view Emily. For my quotations I would focus on parts of the short story where Emily’s thoughts were guessed from the fellow town’s people and based upon her actions.

If I had done a New Historical/Cultural theory I would have focused on the time period that A Rose for Emily takes place and talk about how that impacts the story. A Rose for Emily takes place at during the turn of the 19^th century into the 20^th century and a large portion of Emily’s life. She was born into a time when family names and statuses were respected and during her life she saw the downfall of this prestige and nobility. I would talk about the normalcies of the time period and use them to explain Emily’s actions. I would use quotations of historical dates and behaviors and I would also use examples within the text of common practices of culture within the story.

I did not like the other two school of theories for A Rose for Emily so I choose a Marxist reading. Plus it was the first idea that had come into my head and I just went for it because I just usually go off my first thoughts. I did not not usually writing a Marxist theory for A Rose for Emily but I think it was just because of the complexity of the actual paper’s requirements. I am not sure I would have enjoyed writing this paper no matter what school of theory it was. If I could not have written a Marxist reading of A Rose for Emily, I would have definitely written a New Historical/Cultural reading of A Rose for Emily because of all three theories, it sounds like it would be the most fun and interesting to research. If I had given more time to logically think all three options through, I would have probably done this approach but since it came to me while I had already started my topic within Marxism I did not change it. I would have dreaded writing a Reader-Response reading because I hate Reader-Response theories. The hardest part about writing this paper was the lack of specific secondary sources.