An Analysis of Narrative Methods in A Rose for Emily

张莎莎

【Abstract】A Rose for Emily is one of William Faulkners representative works. This story tells a tragedy about a woman， Emily， who was born in a declining noble family. This paper will analyze narrative methods of the story， discuss their influences on readers， and thus explain the effects they produce on the characterization of the heroine and theme development.

【Key words】narrative methods； chronological order； spatial order

I. Introduction

William Faulkner is one of the most prominent writers of modern America. He is thought to be the voice of American South. Although very short， A Rose for Emily is a complex story. The heroine of the story—Emily， a descendant of the Southern aristocrats， is the symbol of the Old South. This paper will analyze narrative methods in A Rose for Emily. Generally speaking， narrative methods include chronological order and spatial order. The story focuses on chronological order whose main feature is anachronism. Anachronism makes the story more complex and more attractive.

II. Narrative Methods

2.1 Chronological Order

In A Rose for Emily， the chronology plays an important role in plots and theme development. In this story， there are two chronologies. One is narrative time and the other is story time. The inconformity between narrative time and story time is anachronism. Therefore， it is necessary to find the normal time in order to have a better understanding of the story.

This is the normal chronological order：

Part IV Emily is born

Part II Emilys father dies， and she refuses to acknowledge his death.

Part III Homer arrives in town and begins to have a date with Emily.

Part IV She buys a mans silver toilet set， with the letters H.B. on it， and mans clothing.

Part III Emily buys poison at the drug store.

Part IV Homer disappears and then Emily dies.

Part I The townspeople go to her funeral.

Part V People find Homers body in the bed of Emily.

From the story， this chronology is disjointed. Some events do not appear according to the story time. For example， the narrator puts Emilys action of buying poison before her cousins arrival and Homers attitude towards marriage. Thus the readers can not clearly know the cause and effect. The anachronism wants the readers to dig the deep level of the story and to be aware of Emilys crime without a final judgment. In addition， the narrator begins the story by Emilys funeral. This description is actually a flashback. Anachronism can give the readers the suspense in the story.

2.2 Spatial Order

First， the author introduces the background of the story. The story happened in Jefferson. Jefferson is a battlefield between the Northern industrial civilization and the Southern traditional culture. Although the war has been over， the economy and cultural contradictions between the North and the South is still fierce. Miss Emily is just a victim of the cultural conflict. The author describes this scene in order to show the setting of the story.

Then the outside of the house is described， “It was a big， squarish frame house that had once been white， decorated with cupolas...”（Faulkner， 1985： 1） It is clear that the house of Emily is old and out of fashion. And that can show Emilys mind is keeping the old tradition and will not change. Then when the aldermen enter her house， it is also surprising：

It smelled of dust and disuse—a close， dank smell...It was furnished in heavy， leather-covered furniture...they could see that the leather was cracked... （Faulkner， 1985： 3）

These sentences present that the inside is also very old. The author first shows the outside of Emilys house， and then the readers will guess how the inside is. So when the author describes the inside， the readers can have a strong feeling of the really old house. At last， the author describes the room. The room looks like a tomb， and in fact， it is the tomb of Homer. Therefore， through the description of the outside and inside， it paves the way for the final climax. The spatial order is from outside to inside， and progressive transformation. It may cause the readers curiosity. They want to know everything of the house and the room.

III. Conclusion

It is clear that this paper focuses on narrative methods in A Rose for Emily. The author adopts unique techniques in time order to reflect the chaos and disorder of Emilys mind. The seemingly disordered narrative could actually reveal the morbid spiritual world of Emily and embody the complex meaning of Emilys tragic life. Through the analysis， this paper can find that the source of Emilys tragedy comes from the decayed tradition. The author reveals the decayed society through creating a females image. The changing of Emilys image represents the changing of South society.

References：

[1]Faulkner，William.A Rose for Emily[M].New York：Macmillan publishing company，1985.

[2]陳敏.从时空的角度解构《献给艾米丽的玫瑰》的矛盾性[J].南京工业职业技术学院学报，2008，（3）：30-31.