reactions to "A Rose.." and "A Good Man.."

(Hey everyone! Sorry this was such a late post.)

When reading “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner, the first thoughts that came to my mind was a rose as an archetype symbol. The rose is a heavily weighted symbol; it signifies love, beauty, passion, and romance. I think the rose also has other messages tied to it though, such as “every rose has its thorn.” A rose is also very fragile and treated with caution and admiration. I think all of these ideas can tie into Faulkner’s story, “A Rose for Emily.”

A number of aspects jump out to me when I read this text. One of the most interesting of these is the narrator as a collective voice. In this story, the narrator or narrators refer to themselves as “we.” Faulkner sets it up as if the entire town is telling this story about Emily. Rumors and gossip play large roles in the telling of this story.

One thing that is interesting to me is that, although Faulkner’s descriptive writing is very clear, I can never seem to create a clear image of Emily in my head. I’m always confused because at one point she’s fat, then thin, then white, then gray. I think part of the reason for my confusion may be because the narrators themselves are unsure of what Emily looks like exactly. They are only getting short glimpses of this intriguing character and they use their imaginations to create the rest.

I guess it would be interesting to involve a creative writing project when teaching this text. The students could play with the ideas of rumors and gossip diluting or changing the story- sort of a written “telephone” game. For younger students, this would be an important lesson on the influence of point of view on a story.

After reading “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” by Flannery O’Connor, I would consider using this story to teach a lesson on characterization or even archetypal figures. The characters in this story are so powerful from the very beginning. The grandmother and the Misfit are the two characters that strike me the most. On the surface, they would appear to be opposites- an old lady and a male killer. However, at the end of the story, I am left with the feeling that O’Connor wanted us to realize that they really weren’t that different at all. The quote: “‘She would have been a good woman,’ The Misfit said, ‘if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life’” really sticks with me and makes me think twice about these characters.

Another part of the story that always amazes me is when the grandmother, who comes off as so stubborn and determined, realizes that she made a mistake about which state the house was in. I think this is the pivotal moment where the reader starts to see the multiple dimensions of each character.