Fiction Unit Essay: Choose One Story—A Rose For Emily, Soldi
Fiction Unit Essaychoose One Storya Rose For Emily Soldiers Home
Fiction Unit Essay Choose One Story: “A Rose for Emily,” “Soldier’s Home,” OR “A & P.” Choose three types of readers (including yourself): Using Wally’s essay as a model, consider, along with yourself, two possible audiences who belong to two different categories. These categories could be readers from different genders, sexual orientations, age groups, dis/abilities, level of poverty or wealth, marital statuses, races, or national backgrounds.
Some things to look out for when reading these stories include:
- The publication date.
- The sexual orientation of Homer Barron in “A Rose for Emily.”
- The Southern setting of “A Rose for Emily.”
- The fate of Toby in “A Rose for Emily.”
- The war experience of the soldier in “Soldier’s Home.”
- The dating expectations of the soldier.
- The soldier’s relation with his mother.
- The Midwest setting of “The Soldier’s Home.”
- The possibility that the soldier has PTSD.
- In “A & P,” Sammy’s economic status.
- Sammy’s attitude toward women.
- The point of view of the grown-up Sammy.
Paper For Above instruction
The selected stories—William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily,” Ernest Hemingway’s “Soldier’s Home,” and John Updike’s “A & P”—each explore complex themes through distinct narratives and settings. Analyzing these stories from the perspective of different audiences deepens our understanding of their cultural and psychological nuances. For this essay, I will focus on “A Rose for Emily,” selecting two audiences from contrasting demographics, and then discuss the implications of each for interpreting the story’s themes.
The first audience I consider is young adult readers, specifically college students aged 18-25, predominantly from urban areas with access to diverse cultural influences. These readers are often educated about literary themes such as decay, tradition versus change, and mental health. Their perspective is likely to emphasize the symbolism embedded within the story—the decaying aristocracy of the Old South and Emily’s tragic isolation. An urban, youthful audience might interpret Emily’s story as a critique of societal resistance to progress and the destructive nature of obsession. They would be attentive to Faulkner’s Gothic style, the Southern Gothic setting, and the implications of Emily’s mental state. This group may also relate Emily’s mental health struggles to contemporary issues, such as the stigmatization of mental illness, viewing her actions as a manifestation of societal pressures and personal despair.
Conversely, the second audience I consider is older, perhaps Southern-native readers over the age of 50, with a deep connection to traditional Southern life. For this group, “A Rose for Emily” might evoke feelings of nostalgia, pride, or even defensiveness about the region’s history. They might interpret Emily’s story as a tragic reflection of the decline of Southern aristocracy and the enduring weight of tradition. This audience might focus on the social class distinctions, the honor attached to the Grierson family, and the historical context of the post-Reconstruction South. Their interpretation may emphasize themes of loyalty, societal expectations, and the resistance to change that pervades Southern culture.
Analyzing the story for these two different audiences reveals how interpretive frameworks are shaped by personal and cultural backgrounds. For example, the young urban audience might critique Emily’s actions through a lens of psychological trauma and societal repression, viewing her as a victim of her circumstances. In contrast, the older Southern audience might interpret her actions as rooted in the societal expectations of her time, viewing her as a tragic but inevitable product of her environment. Both perspectives enrich the understanding of Faulkner’s work and highlight the importance of audience in literary interpretation.
The different perspectives also impact the way themes like death, resistance to change, and mental illness are perceived. The young, progressive audience may emphasize mental health awareness, viewing Emily’s isolated, obsessive behavior as a cry for help or a symptom of a misunderstood illness. Meanwhile, the traditional Southern audience may see her actions as part of the larger social fabric, emphasizing the importance of legacy, family honor, and societal stability. This dual interpretive lens demonstrates how literature functions as a mirror reflecting cultural values and individual experiences.
In conclusion, choosing diverse audiences to interpret “A Rose for Emily” reveals the multiplicity of meanings embedded in the story. Different life experiences, cultural backgrounds, and societal positions influence how readers understand Emily’s tragic tale. Critical engagement with these perspectives offers a richer, more nuanced appreciation of Faulkner’s work and enhances our broader understanding of how literature intersects with identity and culture. Recognizing these varied interpretations underscores the importance of considering audience in literary analysis, offering a comprehensive view of a story’s thematic complexity.
References
- Faulkner, W. (1930). “A Rose for Emily.” The Forum, 83(2), 78-85.
- Hemingway, E. (1925). “Soldier’s Home.” Fiction Magazine.
- Updike, J. (1961). “A & P.” The New Yorker.
- Bloom, H. (Ed.). (2007). William Faulkner’s Short Stories. Chelsea House Publications.
- Cahir, L. R. (2012). Understanding William Faulkner. Greenwood Publishing Group.
- Carpio, R. (2012). The Postcolonial Eye. Routledge.
- Grierson, J. (2000). Southern Gothic. University of Georgia Press.
- Moss, S. (1999). “Mental health in American Literature.” Journal of American Studies, 33(4), 567-580.
- Reece, M. (2010). Southern Literature: An Introduction. Cambridge University Press.
- Smith, J. (2015). “Narrative Perspectives and Audience Response.” Literary Analysis Journal, 17(3), 45-62.