William Faulkner, a novelist and short story writer, is well known for being one of the most influential writers of the 20th century. Faulkner is known for using a literary movement known as stream of consciousness. Stream of consciousness can best be described by the writer trying to portray an individuals point of view by writing out their thought process. It is sometimes hard to follow, but makes the reading more interesting. The story I would like to talk about by William Faulkner is called "A Rose for Emily". In this story, Faulkner uses the stream of consciousness from the townspeople's point of views. Faulkner does a great job of building up the character for Emily as the story starts and rolls along. The ironic and grotesque feeling even evolves when Emily's home is being described. "An eyesore among eyes" was used to describe the beat down, dark looking home. Emily is a well known towns lady, and generally just strolls around town with her mate Homer. There are hints dropped here and there that Emily's frustration is that Homer will not propose to her. The mystery comes into play when Emily makes a trip to her local drugstore, and purchases arsenic. Is she going to commit suicide? What is she planning to do with arsenic? In the end, we find out the answer very quickly. Emily had became a hermit. She was never seen outside anymore, and no one ever saw the inside of her home. After her death, the first thing the towns women wanted to do was go inside her home. This adds to the mystery of Emily that Faulkner was trying to create. There, they find the corpse of Homer lying on the bed, with a pillow right beside him. In the end, we find out Emily had killed Homer, and had lain in bed with him every night until her own death. Now we see why Faulkner is placed in the "Southern Gothic" gategory, and where the use of the "grotesque" charachter came into play. Please feel free to comment with any questions or comments about this story.
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