The Analysis of Sensory Stimuli of Terror in A Rose for Emily

尚慧敏

Abstract：William Faulkner drew impressive pictures of terror in A Rose for Emily by visual descriptions， auditory descriptions， tactile descriptions， and olfactory descriptions. Through the biological analysis， people can figure out what kinds of stimuli in this work can produce terror， how the sensory organs respond to the terror stimuli and why readers fear them. It is proved that Faulkners description of terror is based on the system of mens receiving information and the production mechanism of terror.

Key words：terror; A Rose for Emily; sensorial stimuli

A Rose for Emily， written by William Faulkner， tells a tragedy—Emily was not married at her thirty when her father died. Later she met Homer Barron， a Yankee and fell in love with him， who didnt plan to marry her， so Emily poisoned him to death. Only until her death did people find out she slept with Barrons body for decades. William Faulkner created terror successfully by different sensorial descriptions. But there is few explanation of how Faulkner did this in view of physiology， analyzing these terror factors as different sensory stimuli. Through this analysis readers can realize this terror fiction is designed under biological law.

1、The mechanism of the production of terror

The production of terror is a conditioned reflex， which is a process of a behavior modification that a response to a potent biological stimulus becomes expressed in response to a biological stimulus based on relating unconditioned reflex， requiring the participation of cerebral cortex. Pavlov thinks that according to the difference of signals， conditioned reflex includes two kinds—the first signal conditioned system reflex and the second signal conditioned system reflex. The first kind of signals is stimuli from real objects; the second kind is from words， which only exists among humans.

When the elements to sustain life are not sufficient or not available， there will be aversive response to these stimuli. Survival is the instinct of life， so men usually keep away from adverse environments and any form of death. Of the information a man receives， visual information accounts for nearly 80%， auditory information about 10%， and the other sensorial information about 10%. Faulkner represented sensory terror factors to stimulate readers to feel scared. He also kept to the rules of reception of information. Of the descriptions of terror factors， visual stimuli are the most; the auditory stimuli the second; the tactile stimuli and olfactory terror ones the fewest. The following is the analysis of these four kinds of terror stimuli.

2、The visual stimuli of terror

（1）The environments with insufficient lights

When the aldermen visited Emilys house， they were “admitted by the old Negro into a dim hall from which a stairway mounted into more shadow”. Shadow creates visual disorder， making it difficult to tell the real stairs. When the Negro opened the blinds of a window， “a faint dust rose sluggishly bout their thighs， spinning with slow motes in the single sun-ray”. Even as Emily was sick to death， her room was still with “dust and shadow”. This house is not inhabitable for normal people， and thus it makes readers feel uncomfortable and afraid to be in it. Key events happened in darkness. At midnight， the aldermen stole into Emilys garden， and the light from Emilys window was the only light source. Additionally it is “at dusk one evening” that people saw Homer Barron enter into Emilys kitchen. And in numerous nights Emily laid together with the body.

Humans fear darkness. The visual information accounts for almost 80% of all he accepts. In darkness a man nearly loses his sight. Once his main source of information is cut off， he can scarcely avert potential dangers from surroundings， so he is naturally afraid in the environment without sufficient lights. The aldermen could not see the surroundings clearly meanwhile worried about being caught.

（2）The cool and dark colors

Emily and objects relating to her are cool and dark colors. Her skin is of “pallid hue”， pale without blood red. Her hair grew “greyer and greyer” until it achieved “pepper-and-salt iron gray”; “A tax notice” was sent to Emily， but reply is “a note on paper of archaic shape” “in faded ink.” The ink was faded， brown and gray. Emilys furniture is covered with heavy leather， with a dark brown. Her curtains were “faded rose color”; her bed was in a “heavy walnut” color; the mans toilet silver things were “tarnished”， with “a pale crescent” in the dust. These colors are effective stimuli for the production of terror.

A man fears the death of his own kind， so the descriptions of death are strong visual stimuli of terror. The features of a newly dead man include cessation of breathing， pallor mortis， livor mortis， algor mortis， and rigor mortis; the skin looks pale; As time goes， the body decays till the flesh is gone and the bones become white. When a man sees these signals， he may feel threatened and feared. The dark colors of Emily lead readers to think of death then feel scared; the dark colors of objects indicate the declining of life.

（3）The color contrasts

Emilys image is with sharp color contrasts， and she was “in black， with a thin gold chain” and a cane with “tarnished gold head”. The black contrasts the gold; her face was “a lump of dough” with two coal-like eyes， producing a black-white comparison. Her fathers crayon portray was with “tarnished gilt easel”. “Tarnished gilt” color serves as a foil to the brightly painted “crayon portrait”. When Emily was lying on bed， the yellow pillow was loud for her gray hair. These color contrasts bring visual shocks and unpleasant feelings.

These unpleasant feelings stem from mens experiences. When humans live in wildness， they meet dangerous creatures wearing sharply contrasting colors. For example， poisonous mushrooms are white spots in red; the poisonous spider， black widow， is pitch-black; pythons are covered by yellow， black and white. All these dangerous colors are written in mens genes， so once readers read these color contrasts again， the alertness and terror generate.

3、The auditory stimuli of terror

When aldermen visited Emily， they heard the “invisible watch ticking at the end of the gold chain” and her “dry and cold” voice. The aldermen chose a quiet night to steal into Emilys house; even the shoes in her room seemed “mute”. There were nearly no sounds or voices in Emilys house.

Silence makes human feel uneasy and anxious. American researchers did this experiment： let volunteers enter into a silent sound-proof room and stay in there as long as they can. The objects responded that after an hour their hearings were so delicate that they heard the slight inspiration as a shout; two hours later they became extremely nervous and scared. Long silence tightens mens nerve， disturbs heart rate， creating great pressure. Slight sounds are not harmful as silence， but they can also produce hearing disorder and anxiety. Silence also makes men fail to absorb auditory information from surroundings， which adds the feeling of unease. The silence puts readers at an auditory disorder， because no information comes into nerve center， which usually keeps working continuously.

4、The tactile stimuli of terror

Emilys hall was “dank”; her parlor was furnished with “heavy leather”; her bedroom was filled with “dry dust”. The tactile terror stimuli are mainly cold， dampness and dry organisms. The fear of cold comes from algor mortis. The temperature of body reduces after death， which is generally decline until matching ambient temperature. Dry organisms lack water and blood， which is one feature of dead body. Moreover cold and damp environment is inhabitable for humans to live， so these stimuli produce terror.

5、The olfactory stimuli of terror

The “smell” like rot “snake or rat” developed in Emilys kitchen. Her hall “smelled of dust and disuse—a close， tank smell” instead of fragrance. When people broke the room containing the Homer Barrons body， “A thin， acrid pall as of the tomb” filled the room; the pillow next to the body smelled acrid and became “moldy with age.”

The decaying body reduces into simpler forms of matter， accompanied with a strong odor. The odor includes hydrothion， which is poisonous， acid gas， causing mens nausea and stimulating respiratory tracks; so in nature human and most mammals will get away from it. Enclosure space suggests that air is limited and breathing is hard， creating physical tense among readers. Aldermen sprinkled lime in Emilys house to eliminate the smell. Usually people use lime to deal with bodies， because the stink gas is hydrothion， an acid gas， and lime is alkaline which can neutralize it. Thinking of dead bodies can arouse the fear of death in readers minds.

6、Conclusion

Faulkners writing is consistent with the biological rule of the production mechanism of terror. He represented these stimuli with words to trigger readers fear based on biological rules including laws of receiving information and mens instinctive fear of death. Through the analysis of different sensory stimuli， the biological nature of the terror becomes clear in A Rose for Emily.

【Bibliography】

[1] For more details， see： Физиология человека （Human Physiology， in Russian） // Под ред. Н.А.Агаджаняна и В.И.Циркина. — СПб.， 1998. ISBN 5-85503-084-9.

[2] Studies in Philosophy and Religion Volume 10， 1987： 46-66.

[3] 日本杂学研究社. 117个不可思议的人体数字奥秘[J]. 和讯读书， 2015-5-16.

[4]  Human with nature. CCTV， 2014. Film. http：//tv.cntv.cn/video/C14099/d29682df6b1944223890679e60bab982.

[5] Mohammad Samir Hossain and Peter Gilbert. 2010. Concepts of Death： A key to our adjustment. Illness， Crisis and Loss， Vol 18. No 1.

[6] 虞  美. 无声环境亦有损健康[J]. 时代风采， 1997（12）.

[7] 周志俊. 化学毒物危害与控制[M]. 北京： 化学工业出版社， 2007.