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【Abstract】 The present paper sets out a close look at William Faulkner’s short story “A Rose for Emily” to discuss the author’s complicated nostalgic feelings about the good old “southern days”, by analyzing the leading characters —— Emily and the town people. Then this paper tries to explore the author’s superior tragic philosophy attitude towards life in a changeable social environment.
【Key words】Emily, relationship, nostalgia, tragic philosophy
【中图分类号】G633.41【文献标识码】B【文章编号】1001-4128（2011）04-0286-02
Introduction
William Faulkner is one of the greatest American southern writers of the twentieth century during which the American South undergone profound social and historical changes. Richard King commented that as the southern writers after the late 1920s, William Faulkner was “engaged in an attempt to come to terms not only with the inherited values of the southern tradition but also with a certain way of perceiving and dealing with the past, Nietzsche called ‘monumental’ historical consciousness”.1 The southerners suffered a lot during and after the Civil War, because they had to accept the fact that the prosperity and honor of the Southern was gone with the invasion of capitalism civilization —— commercial economy of Capitalism destroyed their Paradise of the extravagant plantation life but at the same time what also brought a booming commercial economy, therefore, though they realized the old system would go to an end, they still attached closely their feelings and sense of worth to the traditional life style and values. Based on their complicated feelings, Faulkner created several characters of the typical traditional society to express his attachment of the old good days, but this does not say Faulkner went against the history forwarding trend to preserve the old social system, just on the contrary, though Faulkner emotionally attached to his beloved land, he knew clearly the social corruptions and evils.
“...in capturing the rich variety and disorder of American life, no one else has come anywhere close to the depth of intensity and comprehensiveness of Faulkner’s imagination, but if ever an American writer took on a subject filled to overflowing with war, violence, pain, cruelty, exclusion, servitude, impoverishment, hatred and resentment of the rest of the country, defeat, deceit and delusions of everlasting power over others, it was Faulkner”.2
So this ambivalence complex made Faulkner figure out a real tribulation of human beings in the purpose of pursuing the root of connection and confliction between the past and present society, and by digging his discoveries and understandings of the past traditional values, he accessed to a well and comprehensive understandings of the present society, thus to present people a rational thoughts and ways to get of all the tribulations. And this just shares some similarities with a new philosophy represented by Friedrich Nietzsche’s Tragic Philosophy which described in his book The Birth of Tragedy3 as the stronger’s value concept, which is more practical and more concrete than the optimisms, while more positive and valiant attitude than the pessimisms, to guide human confront bravely the bleak life and create way out of difficulties. And in Faulkner’s short story “A Rose for Emily”, we can see clearly the author’s tendency of tragic philosophy in terms of the southern complex.
A Tragedy Caused by Conflict between Tradition and Hope
Miss Emily Grierson was born in a decayed aristocratic family. When her father died, she shut off herself from society and lived with a black slave in the big house left by her father. She was so stubborn that she refused any contact with the outside world, and lived a lonely and arrogant life without postbox, tax. After her death, people in the town discovered she had poisoned her lover Homer Barron and slept with the skeleton for years. Many scholars commonly believe that it is just because Miss Emily stubbornly insists to the old tradition that caused her life tragedy, but if we rethink it in view of Faulkner’s “love –hate” emotions to the southern traditions, we may find Emily doesn’t merely represent the old tradition. From her we can not only trace the traditional values, but can also find the harsh efforts she had struggled for hope against the traditional shackles. So we can say the self-contradiction in Emily’s deep mind is what Faulkner’s southern complex. And the author also created another self-contradicted people—our town people with the similar conflict between tradition and hope inside their mind. So the south complex is the common feature of this group. A tragic feeling caused by the conflict between tradition and hope runs through the whole story：Emily was longing for a “to be herself ” life while living with the traditional life style; the towns people was lingering their mind on the old good days in the modern capitalized society; as well as the utmost conflict between Emily’s hope and the town people’s tradition values.
Emily tried to be herself to respond for herself and struggled for her hope to be a common people with love and family. But unfortunately she failed, for “no matter what passion one centers on imagining and talking on egocentrism, he still could not do a single deed for himself all his life; all his deeds are guided by a impressed illusion which is from the minds of people who are around”.4 And all these illusions in Emily’s mind were first impressed by her father who was “a spraddled silhouette in the foreground, his back to her and clutching a horsewhip”,5 and orders Emily to accept and loyally obey his rigid sense of social status, so Emily kept in mind that “the Griersons are noble family and rank high in prestige”, though actually they “held themselves a little too high for what they really were”.6 So when Emily was alive she lived in one of the illusions that were impressed by her father, while at the same time the town people also lived with an illusion impressed by the good old south days represented by Griersons. It is this illusion held by the town people re-impressed and strengthened Emily’s first illusion. To some degree, Emily and the town people just lived in each other’s mind, and in this condition a common sense had been reached in the whole town—Emily was a noble and should act like a lady, and should be respected. This illusion is the prime factor triggering the conflict between the traditions and hopes and thus procures the tragedy.
And what they actually did in the story had well illustrated this phenomenon. So when Emily failed to pay tax, the town even called a special meeting of the Board of Aldermen. Then in Emily’s house, the deputation “rose when Emily entered”, and she “did not ask them to sit, she just stood in the door and listened quietly until the spokesman came to a stumbling halt.”7 As to the “bad smell event”, the whole town discussed the solution all by themselves, because they just thought that “it is dammit to accuse a lady to her face of smelling bad”, even when they decided to deal with the stinking smell, they chose to do action “after midnight, and sniffing along the base of the brickwork…crept quietly across the lawn…”. 8 The whole town showed their respect to Emily and even if the town people really felt sorry for Emily they still treated her as a lady, for Emily was a spiritual support and spiritual sustenance to the town, who just lived in the illusion of the past and put all their ceaseless reminiscences on Emily. So when Emily was dating with Homer Barron, the town people felt it’s their duty to keep such a poor and indignity day-labor far away from their southern noble lady. However, at this time without her father’s harsh rules, Miss Emily had decided to live her own life, she hoped to be a common woman to love and be loved, and she even “had been to the jeweler’s and ordered a man’s toilet set in silver, with the letters H. B. on each piece…”9 Emily’s decision had scared the town people. To the town people, it’s a big shame that their darling Miss Emily to marry with a disgustingly poor northern worker, thus they voluntarily endeavored to “save” Emily’s hopeful future, simply because they could not release their illusions of the past old days, they discussed seriously about Emily’s private matters and they believed firmly that poor Emily should not forget noblesse oblige, even some of them thought if they let this gone, it would be a disgrace to the town and a bad example to the young people. And forced the Baptist minister to call upon her, and also officially invited Miss Emily’s relations in Alabama to persuade her to give up the silly decision. And when Emily bought arsenic, the town people said, she will kill herself and said it would be the best thing. The contradiction between tradition and hope proceeds to its top here, the town people just cared about the traditional dignity, they did not concerns about Emily’s life and death not to mention her feelings. It had turned out to be such a tough situation that Miss Emily was quite sure the fact that the town would not accept her marriage with Homer Baron, so in order to satisfy their nostomania complex, she did not stick to her marriage any longer but to make herself to be the lady they admired. However, she never surrendered; instead she forged ahead the last step to her hope—poisoned her lover Homer and stayed with him all her rest life, thus sealed her pure love with her dreamed future forever. It is just for Emily’s unyielding sprite that the author presents a rose to salute with his rational cogitation.
3 Conclusion
So far we see clearly that, ostensibly Miss Emily is the incarnation of south traditions, but actually, she is a fighter declaring war to the traditions, thus her last fight is, pitiful and touching, though hair-raising. Miss Emily’s tragic ending brings out the crucial point—the author’s philosophy attitude, i.e. Miss Emily’s life tragedy is more a generalization of certain human life experiences than an art style or writing style. This life experience discovers the special relationships between the leading role and his copartners. And during the realization of these special relationships, various conflictions are bond to be brought up because of the synchronic and diachronic specialties on both the leading role and his copartners. Just start from this point, Faulkner begins and seeks the tragic conflict and he accessing to a well and comprehensive understandings of the present society, thus to present people a rational thoughts and ways to get of all the tribulations. Though he never literally said tragic philosophy publicly, the theme of most of his works and what he said in the noble prize speech do hint: “The poet’s, the writer’s, duty is to write about these things. It is his privilege to help man endure by lifting his heart, by reminding him of the courage and honor and hope and pride and compassion and pity and sacrifice which has been the glory of his past. The poet’s voice need not merely be the record of man, it can be one of the props, the pillars to help him endure and prevail.”
During the western philosophy history, tragedy and nobility are closely connected aesthetic category. But what is sure is that though tragedy needs not to be noble, it is never elegance, for tragedy is always full of power and strength.10 Tragedy gives positive answers to the valuable things in human life in a negative means. And tragedy spirit is the struggling spirit and sacrifice spirit that dramatis personae oppose doom fate for some perfect value, so we still say “A Rose For Emily” is a tragedy, and Emily’s life and spirit are heart touching.
“Man is neither angel nor brute, and the unfortunate thing is that he who acts the angel acts the brute.”11 It can not be a more proper assessment to all the behaviors of Emily and the town people. Just because man’s good intensions always make freedom surpass necessity, thus tragedy can never be avoid. This short story not only enriches the thoughts of the relationship between tragic philosophy and tragic life, but also gives enlightenment to man’s social practices. William Faulkner mainly exposits the human instincts of pursuing loves and happiness, as well as human spirits of struggling against the doomed fate. And Emily’s life is just like her long strand of iron-gray hair that full of energy and healthy, and at this moment Emily is a power of human sprite brimming with hope. Just as what Faulkner himself had said in the Nobel Prize speech: Until he learns these things, he will write as though he stood among and watched the end of man. I decline to accept the end of man…I believe that man will not merely endure: he will prevail. He is immortal, not because he alone among creatures has an inexhaustible voice, but because he has a soul, a spirit capable of compassion and sacrifice and endurance.
注释：
[1] King, Richard, A Southern Renaissance [M], Oxford University Press, 1980.
[2] Fowler, Doreen and Ann J. Faulkner and Women [M], University Press of Mississippi, 1986.
[3] 王江松,悲剧哲学的诞生[M], 中国社会科学出版社,2009.
[4]ibid.
[5] William Faulkner, The Selected Readings of the 20th Century [M],上海交通大学出版社,2003, p.256.
[6]ibid.
[7]ibid.
[8]ibid.
[9]ibid.
[10] 洪增流,《用弗洛伊德的人格结构理论解析<献给艾米丽的玫瑰>》[J],安徽理工大学学报（社会科学版）2006, (8).
[11] Blaise Pascal, Selections from Classics of Western Philosophy[M], 中国人民大学出版社,2003.
【Key words】Emily, relationship, nostalgia, tragic philosophy
【中图分类号】G633.41【文献标识码】B【文章编号】1001-4128（2011）04-0286-02
Introduction
William Faulkner is one of the greatest American southern writers of the twentieth century during which the American South undergone profound social and historical changes. Richard King commented that as the southern writers after the late 1920s, William Faulkner was “engaged in an attempt to come to terms not only with the inherited values of the southern tradition but also with a certain way of perceiving and dealing with the past, Nietzsche called ‘monumental’ historical consciousness”.1 The southerners suffered a lot during and after the Civil War, because they had to accept the fact that the prosperity and honor of the Southern was gone with the invasion of capitalism civilization —— commercial economy of Capitalism destroyed their Paradise of the extravagant plantation life but at the same time what also brought a booming commercial economy, therefore, though they realized the old system would go to an end, they still attached closely their feelings and sense of worth to the traditional life style and values. Based on their complicated feelings, Faulkner created several characters of the typical traditional society to express his attachment of the old good days, but this does not say Faulkner went against the history forwarding trend to preserve the old social system, just on the contrary, though Faulkner emotionally attached to his beloved land, he knew clearly the social corruptions and evils.
“...in capturing the rich variety and disorder of American life, no one else has come anywhere close to the depth of intensity and comprehensiveness of Faulkner’s imagination, but if ever an American writer took on a subject filled to overflowing with war, violence, pain, cruelty, exclusion, servitude, impoverishment, hatred and resentment of the rest of the country, defeat, deceit and delusions of everlasting power over others, it was Faulkner”.2
So this ambivalence complex made Faulkner figure out a real tribulation of human beings in the purpose of pursuing the root of connection and confliction between the past and present society, and by digging his discoveries and understandings of the past traditional values, he accessed to a well and comprehensive understandings of the present society, thus to present people a rational thoughts and ways to get of all the tribulations. And this just shares some similarities with a new philosophy represented by Friedrich Nietzsche’s Tragic Philosophy which described in his book The Birth of Tragedy3 as the stronger’s value concept, which is more practical and more concrete than the optimisms, while more positive and valiant attitude than the pessimisms, to guide human confront bravely the bleak life and create way out of difficulties. And in Faulkner’s short story “A Rose for Emily”, we can see clearly the author’s tendency of tragic philosophy in terms of the southern complex.
A Tragedy Caused by Conflict between Tradition and Hope
Miss Emily Grierson was born in a decayed aristocratic family. When her father died, she shut off herself from society and lived with a black slave in the big house left by her father. She was so stubborn that she refused any contact with the outside world, and lived a lonely and arrogant life without postbox, tax. After her death, people in the town discovered she had poisoned her lover Homer Barron and slept with the skeleton for years. Many scholars commonly believe that it is just because Miss Emily stubbornly insists to the old tradition that caused her life tragedy, but if we rethink it in view of Faulkner’s “love –hate” emotions to the southern traditions, we may find Emily doesn’t merely represent the old tradition. From her we can not only trace the traditional values, but can also find the harsh efforts she had struggled for hope against the traditional shackles. So we can say the self-contradiction in Emily’s deep mind is what Faulkner’s southern complex. And the author also created another self-contradicted people—our town people with the similar conflict between tradition and hope inside their mind. So the south complex is the common feature of this group. A tragic feeling caused by the conflict between tradition and hope runs through the whole story：Emily was longing for a “to be herself ” life while living with the traditional life style; the towns people was lingering their mind on the old good days in the modern capitalized society; as well as the utmost conflict between Emily’s hope and the town people’s tradition values.
Emily tried to be herself to respond for herself and struggled for her hope to be a common people with love and family. But unfortunately she failed, for “no matter what passion one centers on imagining and talking on egocentrism, he still could not do a single deed for himself all his life; all his deeds are guided by a impressed illusion which is from the minds of people who are around”.4 And all these illusions in Emily’s mind were first impressed by her father who was “a spraddled silhouette in the foreground, his back to her and clutching a horsewhip”,5 and orders Emily to accept and loyally obey his rigid sense of social status, so Emily kept in mind that “the Griersons are noble family and rank high in prestige”, though actually they “held themselves a little too high for what they really were”.6 So when Emily was alive she lived in one of the illusions that were impressed by her father, while at the same time the town people also lived with an illusion impressed by the good old south days represented by Griersons. It is this illusion held by the town people re-impressed and strengthened Emily’s first illusion. To some degree, Emily and the town people just lived in each other’s mind, and in this condition a common sense had been reached in the whole town—Emily was a noble and should act like a lady, and should be respected. This illusion is the prime factor triggering the conflict between the traditions and hopes and thus procures the tragedy.
And what they actually did in the story had well illustrated this phenomenon. So when Emily failed to pay tax, the town even called a special meeting of the Board of Aldermen. Then in Emily’s house, the deputation “rose when Emily entered”, and she “did not ask them to sit, she just stood in the door and listened quietly until the spokesman came to a stumbling halt.”7 As to the “bad smell event”, the whole town discussed the solution all by themselves, because they just thought that “it is dammit to accuse a lady to her face of smelling bad”, even when they decided to deal with the stinking smell, they chose to do action “after midnight, and sniffing along the base of the brickwork…crept quietly across the lawn…”. 8 The whole town showed their respect to Emily and even if the town people really felt sorry for Emily they still treated her as a lady, for Emily was a spiritual support and spiritual sustenance to the town, who just lived in the illusion of the past and put all their ceaseless reminiscences on Emily. So when Emily was dating with Homer Barron, the town people felt it’s their duty to keep such a poor and indignity day-labor far away from their southern noble lady. However, at this time without her father’s harsh rules, Miss Emily had decided to live her own life, she hoped to be a common woman to love and be loved, and she even “had been to the jeweler’s and ordered a man’s toilet set in silver, with the letters H. B. on each piece…”9 Emily’s decision had scared the town people. To the town people, it’s a big shame that their darling Miss Emily to marry with a disgustingly poor northern worker, thus they voluntarily endeavored to “save” Emily’s hopeful future, simply because they could not release their illusions of the past old days, they discussed seriously about Emily’s private matters and they believed firmly that poor Emily should not forget noblesse oblige, even some of them thought if they let this gone, it would be a disgrace to the town and a bad example to the young people. And forced the Baptist minister to call upon her, and also officially invited Miss Emily’s relations in Alabama to persuade her to give up the silly decision. And when Emily bought arsenic, the town people said, she will kill herself and said it would be the best thing. The contradiction between tradition and hope proceeds to its top here, the town people just cared about the traditional dignity, they did not concerns about Emily’s life and death not to mention her feelings. It had turned out to be such a tough situation that Miss Emily was quite sure the fact that the town would not accept her marriage with Homer Baron, so in order to satisfy their nostomania complex, she did not stick to her marriage any longer but to make herself to be the lady they admired. However, she never surrendered; instead she forged ahead the last step to her hope—poisoned her lover Homer and stayed with him all her rest life, thus sealed her pure love with her dreamed future forever. It is just for Emily’s unyielding sprite that the author presents a rose to salute with his rational cogitation.
3 Conclusion
So far we see clearly that, ostensibly Miss Emily is the incarnation of south traditions, but actually, she is a fighter declaring war to the traditions, thus her last fight is, pitiful and touching, though hair-raising. Miss Emily’s tragic ending brings out the crucial point—the author’s philosophy attitude, i.e. Miss Emily’s life tragedy is more a generalization of certain human life experiences than an art style or writing style. This life experience discovers the special relationships between the leading role and his copartners. And during the realization of these special relationships, various conflictions are bond to be brought up because of the synchronic and diachronic specialties on both the leading role and his copartners. Just start from this point, Faulkner begins and seeks the tragic conflict and he accessing to a well and comprehensive understandings of the present society, thus to present people a rational thoughts and ways to get of all the tribulations. Though he never literally said tragic philosophy publicly, the theme of most of his works and what he said in the noble prize speech do hint: “The poet’s, the writer’s, duty is to write about these things. It is his privilege to help man endure by lifting his heart, by reminding him of the courage and honor and hope and pride and compassion and pity and sacrifice which has been the glory of his past. The poet’s voice need not merely be the record of man, it can be one of the props, the pillars to help him endure and prevail.”
During the western philosophy history, tragedy and nobility are closely connected aesthetic category. But what is sure is that though tragedy needs not to be noble, it is never elegance, for tragedy is always full of power and strength.10 Tragedy gives positive answers to the valuable things in human life in a negative means. And tragedy spirit is the struggling spirit and sacrifice spirit that dramatis personae oppose doom fate for some perfect value, so we still say “A Rose For Emily” is a tragedy, and Emily’s life and spirit are heart touching.
“Man is neither angel nor brute, and the unfortunate thing is that he who acts the angel acts the brute.”11 It can not be a more proper assessment to all the behaviors of Emily and the town people. Just because man’s good intensions always make freedom surpass necessity, thus tragedy can never be avoid. This short story not only enriches the thoughts of the relationship between tragic philosophy and tragic life, but also gives enlightenment to man’s social practices. William Faulkner mainly exposits the human instincts of pursuing loves and happiness, as well as human spirits of struggling against the doomed fate. And Emily’s life is just like her long strand of iron-gray hair that full of energy and healthy, and at this moment Emily is a power of human sprite brimming with hope. Just as what Faulkner himself had said in the Nobel Prize speech: Until he learns these things, he will write as though he stood among and watched the end of man. I decline to accept the end of man…I believe that man will not merely endure: he will prevail. He is immortal, not because he alone among creatures has an inexhaustible voice, but because he has a soul, a spirit capable of compassion and sacrifice and endurance.
注释：
[1] King, Richard, A Southern Renaissance [M], Oxford University Press, 1980.
[2] Fowler, Doreen and Ann J. Faulkner and Women [M], University Press of Mississippi, 1986.
[3] 王江松,悲剧哲学的诞生[M], 中国社会科学出版社,2009.
[4]ibid.
[5] William Faulkner, The Selected Readings of the 20th Century [M],上海交通大学出版社,2003, p.256.
[6]ibid.
[7]ibid.
[8]ibid.
[9]ibid.
[10] 洪增流,《用弗洛伊德的人格结构理论解析<献给艾米丽的玫瑰>》[J],安徽理工大学学报（社会科学版）2006, (8).
[11] Blaise Pascal, Selections from Classics of Western Philosophy[M], 中国人民大学出版社,2003.