survey of literature 9

1. This should be addressed to Katherin Wann

The short story that I read in Week 1 was “A Rose for Emily”. I enjoyed reading this story and hope that you got to experience this story as well. In this post, I am going to break the theme down a little to help you see where the story was going and went.

When you hear the title ” A Rose for Emily” you would instantly think that this was a story about a little girl or quite possibly a love story… Well in all aspects it is quite a story on a lady who has passed away but has a dark secret as well. In this story, we first see that Emily now that her father has passed away is not paying taxes and the townspeople are not liking this and want answers. “Colonel Sartoris invented an involved tale to the effect that Miss Emily’s father had loaned money to the town, which the town, as a matter of business, preferred this way of repaying” (Faulkner. 1930. p. 144). This is what Colonel Sartoris told the townspeople why Emily did not have to repay the taxes to the town. As the story was beginning we see that Emily has passed away and that the townspeople get to go into her house after it has been locked up for 10 years to only see a secret room that was hidden from the townspeople.When the townspeople got into this room they noticed a skeleton laying on the bed “then they found a second pillow with an indention of a head and saw a long grey hair laying on the pillow” (Faulkner. 1930. p.151).

I hope you were able to enjoy this post on “A Rose for Emily”. I hope that you were able to find what the theme was in this story and that you were able to see where the story was going.

Reference:

Faulkner,William. 1930. “A Rose for Emily”.

2. This should be addressed to Laddie Rice

In the 1955 short story A Good Man is Hard to Find, O’Conner tells a story of a dysfunctional southern family out for a vacation to Florida and how it encounters a ruthless criminal. The story, for me, shows that although some may profess the greatness of their exaggerated values, that most have flaws that are rarely perfect. I think this is clearly shown by the actions of the Grandmother and how her dress and appearance indicate that she is a true lady but then she makes statements regarding a young African- American child as a pickaninny and characterized him as not even being able to afford pants. The statements are written off as being a sign of the times, but it seems that the grandmother would prefer things to be what they were in her youth.

The story culminates in the family being involved in an automobile crash in a desolate place and are without hope until they see another car approaching. What the thought might be a savior, turns out to be The Misfit, a cruel and well-known criminal. Through out the remainder of the story it is ironic that the grandmother, who earlier had pointed out the dangers and pitfalls of everyone else’s plans, failed to recognize the danger that her family was in, even though they were taken off one by one and executed. She continuously professed that the Misfit was a good man from “good” blood, trying to save her life.

There could be many interpretations of the Misfit’s actions with some feeling that he saw himself as a prophet that had done little wrong (Hendricks, 2009). For me, it is ironic that the grandmother prays aloud and asks the Misfit to seek forgiveness for his sins but fails to realize that he has committed no sins, in his eyes.

This story is about good vs. bad with the difference being in everyone’s perspective.

References:

Hendricks, T. W. (2009). Flannery O’Connor’s “Spoiled Prophet”. Modern Age, 51(3/4), 202-210.

Leigh, D. J. (2013). SUFFERING AND THE SACRED IN FLANNERY O’CONNOR’S SHORT STORIES. Renascence, 65(5), 365-380

 

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