StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

Way Of Narration In A Rose For Emily - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
The paper "Way Of Narration In A Rose For Emily" discusses this story by William Faulkner where he utilizes limited narrator. It analyzes the creation of unreliable narrator, that gives to readers opportunity of making conclusions about the characters and their actions by themselves…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER96.3% of users find it useful

Extract of sample "Way Of Narration In A Rose For Emily"

Way Of Narration In A Rose For EmilyThe story “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner utilizes a third person limited narrator. There are a few times that the narrator says “we,” implying that the narrator is either a member of the town or supposed to collectively represent the people of the town. Because of this, the narrator is unreliable, not because the narrator necessarily intends to be so, but because the limited amount of information that a limited narrator has access to. Through limited access to information, the secretive nature of the main character, and the beliefs and prejudices of the narrator/ people of the town, Faulkner created an unreliable narrator, whether he intended to or not.

In stories that feature an omniscient narrator, the author is able to inform the reader of any of the characters’ thoughts and feelings. By limiting the amount of information that the narrator is able to give to the reader, the characters must make inferences about other characters in the story, and this forces the reader to also make inferences regarding the type of information that the characters in the story made. For example, the narrator states that “We did not say she was crazy then.

We believed she had to do that” (318). This was in reference to when she refused to admit that her father had died. Of course, it is likely that some people might have thought that she was, in fact, crazy, because it is unlikely that the entire town held the same opinion about this event. It would have been distracting to the story if the narrator had attempted to portray all of the feelings that of the people of the town regarding the events. This was the view that was given because it also led to the assertion that she had nothing left because her father had driven away all of her suitors.

For the sake of brevity and because it let the narrator give some exposition in regards to why Emily would not have gotten married, the narrator necessarily had to be in some sense unreliable. Beyond the fact that the narrator was limited in the information that was available, the amount of information was limited by the fact that Emily was a very secretive person, and there were long periods of time in which nobody actually got any sort of information about her. For example, the narrator states that “From that time on her front door remained closed save during a period of six or seven years, during which she gave lessons in china-painting” (320).

Because she was so secretive, the narrator was forced to make more inferences in regards to Emily than would have to be made about any of the other people of the town. Because the narrator had to make a lot of assumptions about Emily, it was more likely that their prejudices would play a prominent role in the making of these assumptions. For example, the narrator states that “’Just as if a man—any man—could keep a kitchen properly’” (316). This line shows that the people of the town expressed prejudices, and because they do have these prejudices, they are the more likely to come to conclusions about other people, such as the way they did with Emily.

With these three aspects of the narration considered, it seems obvious that the narrator was necessarily unreliable, regardless of Faulkner’s intentions. The use of a limited third person narration is similar to utilizing first person and third person at the same time. The amount of information is limited as in a first person narration, and the author avoids using “I” making statements in this fashion. While the use of an unreliable narrator was developed specifically to make the reader question the veracity of information being received, the assertion could be made that all first-person narration is necessarily to an extent unreliable, because such as in real life, the narrator is unable to know the thoughts of another person, and information passed in this manner isn’t always reliable.

Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Way Of Narration In A Rose For Emily Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words”, n.d.)
Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/miscellaneous/1546541-my-opinion
(Way Of Narration In A Rose For Emily Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 Words)
https://studentshare.org/miscellaneous/1546541-my-opinion.
“Way Of Narration In A Rose For Emily Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 Words”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/miscellaneous/1546541-my-opinion.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Way Of Narration In A Rose For Emily

Critical Appreciation of A Rose for Emily

This paper ''a rose for emily'' tells us that it is a short gothic tale set in the fictional town of Jefferson.... The story focuses on the life of the last living Grierson family member, emily Grierson.... The creepy house in which emily lives in the epicentre of the mystery in the story.... The representation of death and decay, involving the house, the town, and emily herself is shown through her relationships with the male characters of the story....
7 Pages (1750 words) Essay

A Specific Theme Portrayed in the Story A Rose for Emily

The collective retreats and the centralized responses are disrupted merely when it is stated about emily that “she carried her head high” (Holland 2001, 29).... The collective retreats and the centralized responses are disrupted merely when it is stated about emily that “she carried her head high” (Holland 2001, 29)....
9 Pages (2250 words) Essay

Comparison between A rose by Emily and The Dead

The author of this paper gives a comparison of Two Short Stories "a rose for emily" by William Faulkner and "The Dead" by James Joyce; it has a detailed summary of the stories.... The paper tells that "a rose for emily" by William Faulkner and "The Dead" by James Joyce are short stories designed to give message regarding death.... This research will begin with the summary of “a rose by Emily”.... In the first section, the narrator remembers of emily Grierson's funnel....
8 Pages (2000 words) Term Paper

Narrative Subjection of Emily Grierson from A Rose for Emily

The author concludes that William Faulkner's “a rose for emily” belongs to that genre of literature in which the facts of the case that support opinionated supposition can never be fully known for sure.... Everything that is thought to be true about emily Grierson is just one man's subjective opinion… One of the most common topics of debate over this story deals with emily Grierson's apparent refusal or inability to change with the passing times; the core of this dilemma, however, is that the prevailing view of emily's supposed lack of adaptability is based entirely on what we know about emily as a result of a subjective third person perspective The opening salvo in this unreliable narration instantaneously places the narrator as the mouthpiece for the common thought: "When Miss emily Grierson died, our whole town went to her funeral....
6 Pages (1500 words) Book Report/Review

William Faulkner's Writing Style

ldquo;a rose for emily” only has one narrator, but an anonymous one.... nbsp;Another use of narration can be seen in “a rose for Miss Emily.... The Sound and the Fury, and “a rose for Miss Emily”.... aulkner had a unique way of narrating his stories.... This narrator is unique because of the plural nature of the one telling Miss emily's story.... This paper "William Faulkner's Writing Style" focuses on William Faulkner's writing style, especially on his narration and flashback techniques, have a tremendous impact on the reader....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

Emily Brontes Narration in Wuthering Heights

Bronte's manner of narration in Wuthering Heights is the reflection of author's attitude and position concerning contextual background.... The essay "Emily Bronte's narration in Wuthering Heights" presents the analysis of "Wuthering Heights" as the only novel written by Emily Bronte and can be considered the greatest reflection of her craftsmanship and creativity.... This essay presents the analysis of "Wuthering Heights" as the only novel written by emily Bronte and can be considered the greatest reflection of her craftsmanship and creativity....
6 Pages (1500 words) Essay

A research paper over A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner

a rose for emily' is centered on a woman who has caused death to her lover but still went ahead and stayed by his decaying body for several years to come.... The author employs the use of unnamed narrator to describe emily's relationships with her lover, father and the dark mysteries that emily has managed to conceal for a long… The setting plays a critical role in most of the author's fiction.... The cost to emily was her personality and freedom....
5 Pages (1250 words) Research Paper

Digital Narrative Tools, Simulation, and Media Convergence

Various computer tools such as software are available for users interested in digital narration depending on the nature of the story and how the author wants to transmit it.... This should be done for each slide that will be accompanied by an MP3 voice narration.... From these tools, SlideStory seems to be the most effective in this case as it enables one to make presentations and to present them to the audience in a more effective way....
6 Pages (1500 words) Assignment
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us