Saturday, January 24, 2009

"A Rose for Emily"

I did not think I would enjoy this story at first. I assumed that Miss Emily Grierson was a popular lady in her hometown based on the opening paragraph. The narrator said "our whole town went to her funeral". This lead me to believe that she must have been an important person in her community. I was suprised to find out it was because she never left her home nor did she have visitors. I think that the narrator was a neighbor or somebody who lived nearby. The narrator described her home in such detail, I could only assume that this person looked at Miss Emily's home often. The narrator had a flashback of Miss Emily while attending her funeral. This flashback caused the narrator to recall another memory, that is why the story jumps around a little. It did not make it difficult to follow though. Miss Emily became "sick" after her father died and then met Homer Barron. Homer seemed like friendly well liked person in the town. The narrator stated "Whenever you heard a lot of laughing anywhere about the square, Homer Barron would be in the center of the group"(209). This made me believe he would bring some happiness to Miss Emily's life. Until she decided to purchase the "poison". I never thought she was going to kill herself with it, but I did think she was planning on killing a person. When the druggist said to her "But the law requires you to tell what you are going to use it for". Miss Emily did not give him an answer, she just stared at him. This made me believe she was planning to do something illegal. Also the narrator stated (207) "After her father's death..,after her sweetheart went away, people hardly saw her at all" and "the smell developed", several people had noticed this odor. I guessed that it was decaying body. I think that the reason she decided to kill Homer was because she was afraid he would leave her. Because she was a loner and did not have any family near her, she wanted companionship. Several people in the town had been talking about how suprised they were to see Miss Emily and Homer together and even said "Poor Emily" everytime they seen her. The people did not think this was a relationship that would last, and were suprised when Homer returned after his work there was finished.After reading "Homer had remarked -he liked men, and it was known that he drank with the younger men in the Elk's Club-that he was not a marrying man", I figured this must be agood reason for her to feel she had to do something before it was too late. This is why I think Miss Emily poisoned Homer, she realized that she could never fully "keep" Homer in her life and planned to kill him so he could never leave her.

Friday, January 23, 2009

"A Rose for Emily"

The narrator of the story was one of the townspeople I believe. They sat back and watched over all the years how things unfolded for poor Emily. It actually makes me think back to psychology and how fascinating it is to try to understand how someone becomes the way they are. Though, in Emily's case she was not treated all to well and her father was an ass. It is too bad she had to go and kill Homer.

I did enjoy the story though. The order in which it was written I think gave it more.

"The Story of an Hour"

I believe that the significance of paragraph five is to express and show a comparison to how Mrs. Mallard is feeling. In the paragraph when Kate Chopin states “there were patches of blue sky showing here and there through the clouds that had met and piled one above the other in the west facing her window,” was significant to me. I believe that this meant that heaven was waiting for her, because the clouds lead a path right to her window. Also the patches of blue sky in the quotes gave me the impression that Chopin was trying to picture an image that resembled that everything would turn out alright. I think that the quote “suspension of intelligent thought,” means that your mind, or in this case, Mrs. Mallard’s mind was at a stand-still. Her mind was at a place of ease and some sort of peace with her life. The opposite quote in this short story would have to be on paragraph nine, the quote states;”She was beginning to recognize this thing that was approaching to possess her, and she was striving to beat it back with her will.” This is opposite because Mrs. Mallard was feeling defeated and her mind was questioning what was happening to her. I feel that the best passage of this story would be paragraph fourteen. The paragraph states”There would be no one to live for during those coming years; she would live for herself. There would be no powerful will bending her in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a less fellow creature. A kind of intention or a cruel intention made the act seem no less a crime as she looked up in that brief moment of illumination.” This paragraph sums up that the fact that Mrs. Mallard is going to die. It also signifies what heaven would be like, and who she has to live for; herself.

"A Rose for Emily"

I have read this story a couple of times before but every time it gives me a chill just thinking about how she was treated and then how she reacted to that treatment she was given. I believe that her father is the reason why she thought she had to poison this man and keep him. The order of the story is what makes it a good story and after reading journals I think that is agreed by many people. I don't agree with the fact that she killed homer but you have to realize her dad really had some part in the fact she felt she was not loved or would never be in her mind. How could someone live with a corpse for all them years I don't think anyone knows but it is defiantly creepy. I like this story just because every time I read it it gives me a mysterious feeling and i don't think there is any story out there like this one.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

A Rose for Emily

The story's chronology challenged the ideas I was beginning to form about Ms. Emily Grierson. Pinpointing who the narrator may be seems next to impossible. There were hints of who the narrator is, in that this narrator entered the house after the death of Ms. Grierson with “the ladies.” I believe that Narrator was fascinated, if nothing more, by the goings-on of Ms. Grierson. The descriptive depiction of Ms. Grierson, hints to an intimate interest, as if there may have been feelings of admiration, possibly more. The order of the story allows us to feel some sadness for Ms. Grierson, as there is a void of loneliness in her life that Narrator would like us to feel. Narrator could have never filled this void, as Narrator was afraid of her. The fear and fascination are both apparent in the description of Ms. Grierson as idol-like, unsure of where her gaze was cast. Ms. Grierson’ loneliness is apparent to us prior to the story of Homer’s demise. The order in which the information is presented, the tone of the story, and the imprinted pillow, lead me to believe that Homer was murdered so that Ms. Grierson wouldn’t have to be alone.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

A Rose for Emily

I liked the fact that it was not told in chronological order, it made kept me interested in reading more. I felt that the narrator was a person that admired Emily, because she/he knew everything about her life without ever actually talking to her. I think it influences the story because it’s from a point of view that is now in the actual story. A lot of the people in the town wanted to feel sorry for her, but felt they could not just because they did not really think she had any feelings herself for anyone else. I think the reason why Emily was the way she was because she was always alone. Emily wanted to die with the one she loved, so she killed Homer and had him by her for some time and then she actually died right next to him in one of the downstairs rooms.

A Rose for Emily

As I read this story, it seemed clear to me that it was being told by a neighbor, perhaps even more than one, as if they were watching Emily from their front windows. I happen to like that this was written out of chronological order; it makes the reader more engrossed in the story. I found myself stopping to try and figure out what was going on and in what order things were really happening.
Even though Miss Emily Grierson seemed to be somewhat of a crazy old lady, I felt sorry for her. To me, she is misunderstood; the town talks about her as if she has no feelings but in reality she is longing for companionship like everyone else. For this reason she feels the need to kill Homer Barron. Emily couldn’t bear to be left again to be all alone; she felt that it was the only way to keep him with her. I love the ending when it is revealed how she would lay next to him; it shows that she really did love Homer. In a way she didn’t die alone, she had him with her.

Monday, January 19, 2009

Hello

Hello everyone, my name is Danny Huseth. I grew up on a farm outside of Elbow Lake Minnesota. I enjoy doing many outdoor things and helping others. I am currently living in Tucson, AZ.

A Rose for Emily

I feel that if the story were told in chronological order it would not have as deep of an effect on the readers as it does this way. It keeps the reader guessing and causes the reader to be somewhat of a detective and also makes the reader return back to previously read passages to interpret what they are currently reading.
The narrator of the story, in my opinion, is not just a single person but the whole town speaking for itself as one body. The use of the word "we" versus the word "I" is suggestive of this and also the way the story states things like in the very first sentence stating "our whole town went to her funeral:" as though the entire town is speaking in unison. It is a historical rendition of what the whole town as individuals but bonded together has seen much like any small town of today would do.
At first I did not know what to think of the ending of the story. It was somewhat confusing to me and at first I had actually thought that perhaps Miss Emily had died sometime ago and that Mr. Barron had taken over her life pretending to be her for so very long. This was because of the passage on page 210 the last paragraph which states that Miss Emily had grown fat and her hair was turning gray and also that her hair was iron-gray like the hair of an active man. My interpretation of that was that it was actually Mr. Barron but then when I read on further I figured out what had really happened. Miss Emily had killed Mr. Barron with the arsenic and then she kept him along side of her in her bed for some time. This was the reason for the smell permeating from her home. I feel that she did this because she was actually thinking back upon her first love that had left her. She was trying to keep his memory alive and this was her way of doing that. It also struck me as odd that it states on page 211 in the middle of the page that she died in one of the downstairs rooms instead of upstairs where Mr. Barron was lying. At first I did not know what to think of that but then I felt as though Miss Emily was trying to portray a message to the people of the town that she died alone as she had been alone for her entire life.

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Hello!

Hi everyone! My name is Amy and I have two other blogs, but this is the first one I'll be graded on, so I'm still kind of nervous! I'm looking forward to reading your posts, though!