Hanna Koski 28.04.

2015
Kirjallisuuden tutoriaali - Avoin yliopisto

Naturalism in A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner

This essay will analyse the concept of loneliness and social isolation in A Rose for Emily by
William Faulkner the major themes in this American short story first published in 1930
(Roberts, James L.). The protagonists loneliness is evident to the reader from the very first
lines: Which no one save an old man-servant a combined gardener and cook had seen
in at least ten years. When the narration develops we can observe that the literary treatment
of the theme becomes very complex the misleading point of view of the narrator shows the
reader how little we know about the protagonist due to her isolation, the non-chronological
order reflects the disordered mental state of the protagonist and her neurotic isolation in the
past times, or the contraposition of men and women and the isolated Miss Emily, or the
contrary point of view of We Miss Emily. All these literary techniques clearly expose the
theme, but also reflect deeper ideas of human mind and some negative consequences of the
new modern society. The analysis of the themes reflects a very pessimistic and sick vision of
the human mind and the Modern society and this indicates the influence of the Naturalistic
literary movement in Faulkners story.

My intention is to show the evidence of the

Naturalistic literary movement in A Rose for Emily through the analysis of the literary
techniques, the characterization of the protagonist and the atmosphere that the story reflects.
Naturalism is an experimental literary movement occurring between 1890 and
1915 (Newlin, Keith., 2011, 3), its main leader is Emile Zola. Naturalist literary works show
a deterministic and pessimistic point of view of human behaviour the description of the
unpleasant and sordid aspects of the society would confirm that the heredity, social and
environmental conditions determine the behaviour of the characters and the plot (Roberts,
James L.). The naturalist often characterizes vulnerable characters and the adverse, even
perverse, social conditions and in this way portrays the ugly side of the society. Furthermore,
the naturalist objective is to capture the verisimilitude in such an accurate level, that the
narration uses very provocative and detailed descriptions (Roberts, James L.).
As noted before, the analysis of the theme transmits a complex set of issues
about the new Modern society and the human mind. Consequently, A Rose for Emily is not
just story of a lonely woman, but a surprising discovery story of a person who was forced to
lead an isolated life; it was her mental state due to her abused childhood that made her isolate
herself. Hence, the factors that made Miss Emily so sick, neurotic and insane make the
narration interesting and surprising. The author creates a remarkable narration portraying
Miss Emily as a mystery she lived an isolated life, therefore we can only speculate what

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happened or what was happening in her life. And this is what the narrator, i.e. We, tries to
investigate.
The vicissitudes of Miss Emilys life remain a mystery until the very end of the
story. Although the actions are not visible to the reader, the narrator evidently describes her
physical appearance and the environment she lives in. This detailed characterization
resembles Naturalist literary characterization an accurate description of the protagonists
deplorable physical condition and a pessimist and negative vision of the character.
Furthermore the realistic description of Miss Emilys house highlights the decaying image of
the setting that reflects the protagonists own state of mind. According Naturalism, art was
like photography, but a type of photography that illustrated the perverse, pessimistic and dark
side of human beings and society (Newlin Keith, 2011, 76, 80-81). The surprising end of the
story is also a common characteristic in Naturalist narration (Tangient LLC., 2013).
There is a considerable amount of social impact and paternal influence reflected
in Miss Emilys isolated and neurotic state of mind and this similarly proves the Naturalist
point of view of life humans are conditioned by genealogical, family and social conditions.
The town and the society where Emily lives reject her, they pity her and they are jealous
about her aristocratic status. Her father, although dead, has a big importance in the narration
and we can interpret that Miss Emily was abused through the dark symbolism of the
horsewhip and the considerations that he did not accept any man near her. Although the
narrator does not express the abusive conduct explicitly, Emilys neurotic behaviour, her
breakdown after her fathers death indicates that their relationship was far from healthy. All
these factors influence Emilys isolation and loneliness. Again we can argue the influence of
the Naturalist literary movement, according to which human beings and their life is
determined and conditioned by social factors, genealogical forces and the environment they
lived in.
From a technical point of view the contraposition of We (the town) and Emily
reinforces her loneliness. It is interesting to point out that this We is the narrator a
communal point of view (Skei, H. Hans., 1991, 46). The town (we) can be considered as a
world apart from Miss Emily a world that is developing and modernizing towards a new
kind of society. And it is this development that Miss Emily is also escaping through her
isolation. There are many references to the past and the present modern times and again we
can see that Miss Emily rejected the time with its mathematical progression, that she still
lived the glorious past of the Southern states, she could not forget the noblesse oblige. The

Hanna Koski 28.04.2015

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town felt sorry for Emily (Poor Emily), and through this deplorable characterization of Miss
Emily, the author is reflecting the social problems as a result of modernization.
Her characterization highlights concepts and images of the past Southern idyllic
and aristocratic states. The characterization resembles a past that Miss Emily is stuck in. The
whole narration of the story is in the past tense and this emphasizes the idea of previous times
and Miss Emilys insane and neurotic mind that could not see the present.
Regarding the use of time and its chronological order, it shows a nonchronological exposition of years and moments in Miss Emilys life (flashbacks and flashforwards). The order of the narration is just as confusing as Miss Emilys state of mind. The
narrator jumps back and forth in the narration in order to get an understanding of the
protagonist life and we notice that the narrator (we) or the town do not have a clear idea of
her. This makes the reading a very exciting experience. The narrators lack of knowledge is
another device to illustrate the theme Miss Emily was so isolated that you could know very
little about her life. The only thing they knew was that she was sick and they felt sorry for
her: Poor Emily said the whole town.
The references to the past and to the present contextualize the problematic
social change in the Southern states in the USA (Union and Confederate soldiers Negro
Niggers Cotton gins Cotton wagons The Town Paper of an archaic shape Noblesse
oblige) (Towner Theresa M. and Carothers James B., 2006, 67-70). Miss Emilys isolation
and loneliness are also symptoms of the modern and sometimes sick society. Miss Emily
rejected the innovations and the new modern and individualistic world (When the town got
free postal delivery, Miss Emily alone refused to let them fasten the metal numbers),
although her behaviour indeed was individualistic. Regarding the Naturalist literary influence
we can point out that many naturalistic novels expose the negative and ugly factors of the
modern society.
According to Emile Zola the leader of the Naturalist movement human
beings are human beasts and can be studied through their relationships to their
surroundings. Human beings are seen as products that can be studied and understood
(Campbell, Donna M., 2013). In this story little is explicitly said, hence we can only study
and make our conclusions of Emily and her life through her social status, the paternal
relationship and actions and imagine how these factors affected Emilys character. In this
sense, Faulkner does portray real human beasts through the characterization of Mr Grierson
who made Miss Emily to convert in a beast herself. The naturalists defended the idea of the
brute within each individual, composed of strong and warring emotions and passions

Hanna Koski 28.04.2015

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(Campbell, Donna M., 2013), I think A Rose for Emily reveals a surprising human conflict,
which exposes suppressed emotions that make the protagonist act in such a brutal and sick
way.
To conclude, A Rose for Emily has traditionally been considered to belong to the
Gothic literary tradition; Allan Lloyd Smith says:Faulkners version of southern history
must be seen as a profoundly Gothic vision [] as it is with entrapment and despair, flight
and pursuit, the inescapability of the past in the present (Lloyd-Smith Allan, 2004, 61).
Although A Rose for Emily has been theorized as an example of the Gothic Literature, I think
these ideas of entrapment, despair, flight or inner conflict can also be related to Naturalism.
Moreover, through my analysis I consider that the influence of Naturalism in Faulkners short
story is evident.

Hanna Koski 28.04.2015

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Works cited:
Campbell, Donna M. 07.04.2013. <http://public.wsu.edu/~campbelld/amlit/natural.htm>
Lloyd-Smith Allan: American Gothic Fiction: An Introduction. The
Continuum International
Publishing Group Inc. 2004. 61

Newlin Keith: The Oxford Handbook of American Literary Naturalism.

Oxford University
Press. 2011. 3, 76, 80-81

Roberts, James L. CliffsNotes on Faulkner's Short Stories. 27 Mar 2015

</literature/f/faulkners-short-stories/introduction-to-yoknapatawpha-county>
Roberts, James L. CliffsNotes on Nana. 27 Apr 2015
</literature/n/nana/book-summary>.
Skei, H. Hans: Reading Faulkners best short stories. University of South Carolina. 1991. 46
Tangient LLC: 08.07.2013
<http://frontierinamlit.wikispaces.com/20th+Century+1900- 1965>
Towner Theresa M. and Carothers James B.: Reading Faulkner: Collected stories. University
Press of Mississippi. 2006. 67-70