The gothic style and symbolism in A Rose for Emily英语毕业论文.doc

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1、The gothic style and symbolism in A Rose for EmilyAbstract William Faulkner as a representative of American southern literature is widely considered to be one of the great American authors of the twentieth century .although his great works are characteristic of a particular region and time, the them

2、es he explores are universal. his novels embodying a noticeable gothic style and symbolism have become the topic for many scholars. in the following passage, the author aims to analyze the gothic style and symbolism that are applied to William Faulkners popular masterpiece-“a rose for Emily”.Key wor

3、ds southern complex symbolism gothic style1. the gothic style in a rose for Emilythe gothic horror tale is a literary form dating back to 1764 with the first novel identified with the genre, Horace Walpoles the castle of contralto. Gothicism features an atmosphere of terror and dread: gloomy castles

4、 or mansions, sinister characters, and unexplained phenomena. gothic novels and stories also often include unnatural combinations of sex and death.(short stories for students.detroit:gale,2002.from literature resource center)Faulkner himself claimed that “a rose for Emily” is a “ghost story.” in fac

5、t, Faulkner is considered by many to be the progenitor of a sub-genre, the southern gothic. the southern gothic style combines the elements of classic Gothicism with particular southern archetypes (the reclusive spinster, for example) and puts them in a southern milieu. faulkners novels and stories

6、about the south include dark, taboo subjects such as murder, suicide, and incest.“a rose for Emily” has been read variously as a gothic horror tale, a study in abnormal psychology, an allegory of the relations between north and south, a meditation on the nature of time, and a tragedy with Emily as a

7、 sort of tragic heroine.”at the beginning of story, the author has already set the foundation of gothic style. the story begins with Emilys death and her funeral, the next paragraph continues to mention Emilys eccentric seventies style house and cedar-bemused cemetery. all these are full of gothic a

8、tmosphere. Emily is quickly established as a strange character when aldermen enter her house in a futile attempt to collect her taxes. she is described as “she looked bloated, like a body long submerged in motionless water, and of that pallid hue. her eyes ,lost in the fatty ridges of her face, look

9、ed like two small pieces of coal pressed into a lump of dough as they moved from one face to another .”( zhang&long ,2005: 361). she insists that aldermen discuss the tax situation with a man who has been dead for a decade. if she is not yet a sinister character, she is certainly weird. in the story

10、, the unexplained smell coming from her house, the odd relationship she has with her father, and the suggestion that madness may run in her family by the reference to her “crazy” great-aunt, old lady Wyatt, are elements that, at the very least, hint at the gothic nature of the story. Emilys purchase

11、 of arsenic should leave no doubt at that point that the story is leading to a gothic conclusion.James m. mellard, in the Faulkner journal, argues that “a rose for Emily” is a “retrospective gothic;” that is, the reader is unaware that the story is gothic until the ending when homer Barrons corpse i

12、s discovered. he points out that the narrators tone is almost whimsical. he also notes that because the narrators flashbacks are not presented in an ordinary sequential order, readers who are truly unfamiliar with the story dont put all the pieces together until the end. however, a truly careful fir

13、st reading should begin to reveal the gothic elements early in the story.2. Symbolism in a rose for Emilyin literature, symbols in the form of words, images, settings, events and characters are often used deliberately to suggest and reinforce meaning, to provide enrichment by enlarging and clarifyin

14、g the experience of the work, and to provide enrichment by enlarging and clarifying the experience of the work, and to help to organize and classify the whole. a literary symbol brings together what is material and concrete within the work with its series of associations; by fusing them, however bri

15、efly, in the readers imagination, new layers and dimensions of meaning, suggestiveness, and significance are added. (林六辰，英美小说要素解析，上海外语教育出版社，2004年，第186页)2.1 rose as a symbolsymbolism has become more and more a distinctive feature in modern short stories. the limited usage of symbolism can make a comm

16、on story fill with profound implications, even beyond a writers original intention. this can find the expression in“ a rose for Emily”. the word “rose”appeared only twice in the story“upon the valance curtains of faded rose color, upon the roseshaded light”( zhang&long ,2005: 370) .this shows suffic

17、iently that rose is not the theme of the short novel, but Faulkner names his novel as “a rose for Emily”,which triggers numerous readers suspicions and inductions. in one sense, homer could be the rose. a combination of the rose-colored bedroom and homer as a dried rose could serve as “a relic of th

18、e past”. homers body could be like a rose pressed between the pages of a book, kept “tucked away in a seldom used, rose colored room which at times can be opened” (Kurtz 40). in another sense, it might be the narrator offering a rose to Emily. as a southern writer, Faulkner regards Emily as a southe

19、rn traditional representative of America; he shows deep sympathy for Emilys love tragedy caused by the times and her father. he thinks that Emily really deserves rose full of love and sweetness. a reporter has ever asked Faulkner what is the meaning of the title “a rose for Emily”? he answered oh; i

20、ts simply that the poor woman had no life at all. her father had kept her more or less locked up and then she had a lover who was about to quit her, she had to murder him. it was just “a rose for Emily”-thats all. (Faulkner in the university 87-88)2.2Emily as a symbolwhen miss Emily grierson died, o

21、ur whole town went to her funeral: the men through a sort of respectful affection for a fallen monument.” ( zhang&long ,2005: 360) .in the town Emily is southern aristocracy, never to be touched but admired. she is regarded as a symbol of the traditional south America and its value. unfortunately th

22、e monument has fallen and whole town went to her funeral all these words and descriptions reveal the authors attitude toward the south falling, obviously he refused to accept the truth but he has to .Faulkner has always been immersed into the flourishing ,serene and cozy southern life style.in secti

23、on one when the dldermen demands for taxes Emily said “i have no taxes in jefferson”twice .compared to her economical word she is emphasizing the people who had died decades ago. in section two Emilys father died, but she dressed as usual and with no trace of grief on her face. even three days after

24、 her fathers death she still refuse to accept her fathers death. all demonstrates Emily lives in her own dummy world which she protects well but does not exist. in section three Emily cuts her hair short, making her look like a girl after her dads death. this behavior symbolizes her new life. she cu

25、t off her hair as a sign of breaking away from her fathers control. she needs a man to love ,to marry and take the place of her father.2.3 surrounding as a symbol“it was a big, squarish frame house that had once been whiteonly miss Emilys house was left, lifting its stubborn and coquettish decay abo

26、ve the cotton wagons and the gasoline pumps an eyesore among the eyesores.” ( zhang&long ,2005: 360) this paragraph is the only one that describes the panoramic setting of the story. symbolism is distinctive :the area that Emilys house locates used to be a divine and rich district, now “garages and

27、cotton gins had encroached and obliterated even the august names of that neighborhood”,this implies the historical fact that the north expanded its force to the south after winning the civil war, north value system is invading south value system and slavery institution. the sentence“only Emilys hous

28、e was left.”symbolizes that Emily does not accept the social change intending to resisting revolution until the last moment even she knows that southern system is decaying and collapsing. Emily is the representative and the banner of southern tradition.conclusionbeing deep-rooted in the life of the

29、American south Faulkner produced numerous works characterized by a strong local color, southern complex, and a unique artistic style. a rose for Emily is one of his typical works in which he never express his viewpoints on any characters, any matters directly but through some literary techniques lik

30、e symbolism and gothic style. these literary elements do help explore readers imagination and cater for the authors needs of creating implied atmosphere.References:1 朱乃长,英美短片小说赏析，书林出版有限公司，1992.2 张伯香 龙江，英美经典小说赏析，武汉大学出版社，2005年8月第一版.3 c.brooks r.p.warren understanding fiction,3e.世界图文出版公司.4 林六辰，英美小说要素解析

31、，上海外语教育出版社，2004.注释：the following quotations of the book will be thereafter in page number only.生命列车The Train Of Life1. 不久以前，我读了一本书。书中把人生比作一次旅行。2. 人生一世，就好比是一次搭车旅行，要经历无数次上车、下车; 时常有事故发生; 有时是意外惊喜，有时却是刻骨铭心的悲伤 3. 降生人世，我们就坐上了生命列车。我们以为我们最先见到的那两个人-我们的父母，会在人生旅途中一直陪伴着我们。 4. 很遗憾，事实并非如此。他们会在某个车站下车，留下我们，孤独无助。他们的爱

32、、他们的情、他们不可替代的陪伴，再也无从寻找。 5. 尽管如此，还会有其他人上车。他们当中的一些人将对我们有着特殊的意义。 6. 他们之中有我们的兄弟姐妹, 有我们的亲朋好友。我们还将会体验千古不朽的爱情故事。7. 坐同一班车的人当中，有的轻松旅行。8. 有的却带着深深的悲哀 还有的,在列车上四处奔忙，随时准备帮助有需要的人 9. 很多人下车后，其他旅客对他们的回忆历久弥新 但是，也有一些人，当他们离开座位时，却没有人察觉。10. 有时候，对你来说情深义重的旅伴却坐到了另一节车厢。你只得远离他，继续你的旅程。11. 当然，在旅途中，你也可以摇摇晃晃地穿过自己的车厢，去别的车厢找他 12. 可惜

33、，你再也无法坐在他身旁，因为这个位置已经让别人给占了 .13. 没关系。旅途充满挑战、梦想、希望、离别 就是不能回头。因此，尽量使旅途愉快吧！14. 善待旅途上遇见的所有旅客，找出人们身上的闪光点。15. 永远记住，在某一段旅程中，有人会犹豫彷徨，因为我们自己也会犹豫彷徨。16. 我们要理解他人，因为我们需要他人的理解。17. 生命之谜就是：我们在什么地方下车？坐在身旁的伴侣在什么地方下车？我们的朋友在什么地方下车？我们无从知晓 18. 我时常这样想：到我该下车的时候，我会留恋吗？我想我还是会的。和我的朋友分离，我会痛苦。让我的孩子孤独地前行，我会悲伤。 我执著地希望在我们大家都要到达的那个终

34、点站，我们还会相聚 19. 我的孩子们上车时没有什么行李，如果我能在他们的行囊中留下美好的回忆，我会感到幸福。20. 我下车后，和我同行的旅客都还能记得我，想念我，我将感到快慰。21. 献给你, 我生命列车上的同行者, 祝您旅途愉快!1. Not long ago, I read a book, in which a mans life was compared to a journey.2. The life of a man is just like a hitchhiking，during which many times we go up and down. Now and then

35、things will happen accidently, some of which are to be unexpected excitement，while some heart-breaking sorrows. 3. When first embraced the world，we are already on the train of life. We take it for granted that the first two persons, our parents, whom we are encountered with, will accompany us all th

36、e way.4. Sadly，things do not go on as we thought.Our parents will get off the train at a certain station，leaving us, bereft and helpless.Their love and emotion to us and their irreplaceable company can be found in nowhere.5. However，there will be somebody else who will get on the train. Some of them

37、 will have special meaning to us.6. Some of them may be our siblings , relatives and friends, and we will also expereince the imperishable love.7. Some of our travelling companions are quite light-hearted on the way.8. While some may bear immense sorrow.Still some ,back and forth, are ready to hold

38、out their hands for others who need help.9. Some people alight off the train, yet they are still kept in the mind of the other passengers for long;some, to the opposite, leave their seats without being noticed.10. Sometimes, the one,who is dear to your heart, has huddled into another carriage. Nothi

39、ng but one you can do is just to keep on going, far away from him.11. Of course, during the journey, you may stagger to another carriage to look for him.12. Its a pity that you will never seat yourself beside him because the seat has been engaged by others. 13. Never mind. The journey is full of cha

40、llenges,dreams, hopes and departures- but only one thing is that you cant turn back. So, have a good journey with heart and soul.14. Show your good-will to all the passengers you are encountered with, and find the merits of theirs.15. Remeber that someone may oscillate just as we do in the journey.1

41、6. We should understand others just as we need others understanding.17. The enigma of life is：Where shall we get off the train of life?And how about the companions beside us?And our friends?We dont know.18. Sometimes I think：When my time comes to get off the train，shall I miss it？I think I will.It i

42、s a suffering when I part with my friends.I will be sorry for leaving my kids going alone.I firmly hold that when we get to the terminal，we will have another reunion.19. When my kids get on the train of life, they have only little luggage in their travelling bags. However,if I can leave the beautiful memory in them,I will be happy. 20. After getting off the train of life, I will be content if my fellow passengers will remember me and miss me.21. To you , the companions on my train of life.May you have a good journey!