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Stylistic Analysis Of A Rose For Emily

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2 The linguistic Model
For the purposes of this paper, a modified model will be introduced for the analysis of Faulkner's style in A Rose for Emily to show how he controls viewpoint at a more detailed level through the choice of particular words and constructions, and how his manipulation affects the reader's understanding of the story's meaning: themes, characters, structure and setting. The check-list is essentially derived, with some modification, from Short (1996: 286-7). It includes: 'given' vs. 'new information'; 'definite' vs. 'indefinite' references; 'schema oriented language'; 'deixis'; 'value-laden' expressions (evaluative nouns, adverbs and adjectives); 'endophoric' and 'exophoric' references. However, it must be stressed that this …show more content…

On the first reading of these words, readers may expect a love story with a happy end. 'A Rose' is one of the symbols used in the story inviting the reader to think of: love, affection, admiration, and sympathy. In an interview, Faulkner answered a question about the meaning of the title of the story, "Oh, it's simply the poor woman had 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"-- that's all," Faulkner in Meyer (1996: 61).
In addition, the reference in the title to the main character, using the first name, without the social title (Miss.), is an example of how social deixis can be effective in understanding relationships between speakers in the text. It suggests a close relationship between the speaker/author and the Miss Emily. He is deeply sympathetic with her and what she represents as a victim of her society's rotten values of past and present.

3.2 The First …show more content…

Then, the events that follow are like flashbacks to different episodes in Emily's life. Faulkner seems not to conform to Aristotle's plot-line; therefore, the story employs an odd structure (see section 3.5).
Men and women go to the funeral for different purposes: men through a sort of respectful affection for a fallen monument and women mostly out of curiosity to see the inside of her house. This allusion hints to cultural and social practices at that time in addition to creating suspense on the reader's side to join women in their desire to learn more about the mysteries in Miss Emily's house/life.
No one had seen the inside of her house in at least ten years; the time reference in the first paragraph invites the reader to speculate about what is going on in the old house.
Moreover, the reference to the old manservant also suggests that he is the only person who probably knows Miss. Emily's secrets. Ironically, the Negro manservant disappeared after the funeral, he let the first of the ladies in and walked right through the house and out of the back and was not seen again. Miss. Emily's life is kept unknown to the outside world pointing to the life-style of aristocratic families in the

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