A Rose For Emily

I found this story to be quite sad, yet very interesting. The story starts with death and ends with death. I feel that Emily was a very sheltered person growing up. Emily's father I beleive was very controlling over her, and when he passed she did not know what to do in life. When Emily finally found Homer, she was going to hold on for dear life. Emily needed someone to help give her direction. She was unable to function in society on her own. I feel that Emily did to Homer what she did out of fear of losing him and having to be alone.

Story of an Hour

The first fact noted in this story is Mrs. Mallards heart condition which is a foreshadow to the ending. Mrs. Mallard as well as her sister Josephine and husband's friend Richards believe Mr. Mallard has just died tragically in a train disaster. Mrs. Mallard seems to be torn between grief and relief. Mrs. Mallard loved her husband but not all of the time. She is sad that he has died but she feels more relief than sadness. She will no longer live as a shadow of her husband. She will have a new freedom. A freedom that allows her to answer to no one but herself. Josephine and Richards are blind to this relief or excitement that Mrs. Mallard is feeling. They believe she is grief stricken.
The ending is quite surprising. It is stated earlier in the story that Richards himself confirmed twice that Mr. Mallard had indeed perished however the story ends in a twist with Mr. Mallard walking in the door unscathed. Mrs. Mallard with her heart condition dies instantly at the shock of her husbands presents. Mrs. Mallard had grieved for a short moment and then consumed the new found freedom. In an instance the freedom was taken back. However looked at freedom in its many forms is important for survival and for a moment Mrs. Mallard lived for it.

A Rose for Emily

As a first impression of reading this story I found it to be very twisted. When the story first starts out the house being described sounded gorgeous. Then the story took its turn to a hole new viewing. Emily was called a Negro or nigger many times throughout the story. It seemed she was a stubborn woman because when the towns people were trying to collect taxes she would not reply with the letters or to the people who came for her. She was very set in her ways.
After Emily's father passed seemed to affect her the most. The story states that after his passing she went out very little, and after her sweetheart went away people barely saw her at all. The once beautifully described house has now been viewed as a rotten smelling dirty house, with a negro gray woman living inside. Neighbors began complaining of the smell. This is where in the story I started to see how she was perceived to be "crazy." I think this because After her father had passed she refused to believe it and for a few days would not let him be disposed of. Then her meeting of Homer and the special request for the arsenic poison. She had a special plan for this poison.
When Emily passed and the room was discovered with all the wedding memorabilia in it I never expected that they would find Homer in the bed. That added more onto the twisted story for me. That would explain the smell and why people thought of her as crazy. Overall the story was interesting. There were a few surprises that kept me interested in it and wanting to write about my first impression.