WEEK 2 - DQ

My choices for this week are:
2. Discuss “Rose for Emily” in light of the title: What significance does the “rose” hold? Where in the text do you see a rose . . . or do you? Explain your observations and ideas. Consider narration in “Rose for Emily” – you’re told the narrator is the “townspeople”, which means the “person” speaking is recounting not a highly personal takes but a more generalized understanding of Miss Emily. Do you think this narrator is reliable? Do you think we “get” the exact truth about her character and actions taken by both Emily and other players (static/flat characters)? Why would this be important?

You cannot find the "rose" in this text but the significance of the "rose" is the story itself. The story is like a tribute to the Grierson's, especially to Emily, whose life is the subject of the scrutiny and criticisms in her community. The "townspeople" may grew up with her or old enough to witness the events of her life as it unfolds. The "rose" signifies the celebration of her life and making it known that even in the tweaks and twists in her life, the "townspeople" still feel an obligation to tell her story. Miss Emily is an integral part of their community, she is an open book where the "townspeople" seems to know every move she makes. Here, the "rose" is like the salute of the community to her. There is a sense of obligation to give back to the Grierson's especially when the late father "has loaned money to the town, which the town, as a matter of business, preferred this way of repaying." So by retelling her story, as it happens, is also returning the favor for Miss Emily. After the tweaks and twists in her life and as an icon, they have not much to help Miss Emily but to pay her their last respect.
It is a way of saying, "My hat is off to you, Miss Emily, we are grateful to have known you."

The narrator in this story, may not be recounting on a highly personal take but the narrator has enough credibility to speak of Miss Emily since the narrator sounds like she has lived in the same community long enough to see the events unfold before his or her eyes of the Grierson's or the community's history. "Alive, Miss Emily had been a tradition, a duty, and a care; a sort of hereditary obligation upon the town, dating from that day in 1894 when Colonel Sartoris, the major..." Also the narrator said, "When the next generation, with its more modern ideas..."The narrator speaks in different tones and does not show any bias. He/she speaks about her and her life as it fits and makes the narrator credible enough. There are times when the narrator at some point criticizes the Grierson's for 'holding themselves too high," of their "demeanor" when they are seen in public or when Emily picks Homer to be her love interest and unfavorable comments he or she made of her choice, "grief could not cause a real lady to forget noblesse oblige --without calling it noblesse oblige."

The irony though, is that even when Miss Emily begins to show her "mental illness", the narrator still maintained subtleness in his or her tone. In fact, he or she still admires how Miss Emily carried herself, "carried her head high enough --even when we believed that she was fallen."

It is important that the narrator(s) tells the story as it is. It is like he or she keeps the momentum going of maintaining our interests to keep on reading but also engages us in every aspect of the story. The narrator(s) takes us to the setting and be a part of the community. Above all, the narrator leaves us something to talk and think about. The story ends but the legend continues.


6) From your text (and you may answer this one in first-person as it invites a “reader-response”-themed response. “Are you bothered by [“The Storm’s”] happy ending? Are stories supposed to reinforce the dominant values of a society? What do you think would (or should) have happened in real life?” (658) I am somewhat bothered by the "happy" ending of the story "The Storm" because it seems like the indiscretion was not a "big deal" especially when Calixta showed so much satisfaction and joy out of the infidelity. The last paragraph on Part 2 states, "He turned and smiled at her with a beaming face; and she lifted her pretty chin in the air and laughed aloud". Both Alcee and Calixta did not show any guilt or remorse for that matter. I do not think that stories are supposed to reinforce the dominant values of society because we already know what is expected of us- what is right, wrong, the norms and what is morally right. However, stories such as "The Storm", may not reinforce the dominant values of society, but it clearly shows the lessons behind the story and it is up to us to act on it or not. In addition, in that era, indiscretion was considered a taboo, considering that women did not have the "rights" to express their dissatisfactions in their marriages and to get out of it, if they did. If all stories are written to conform to the dominant values of a society, I do not think that there would be a great demand to read because it is not what reality is all about.
In real life, I do not think this is possible. There would be no happy ending like this story has. Instead of returning back to normal after the "storm" it could have been fights, secret rendezvous one after the other, and there will be broken hearts and broken marriages. There is a possibility that, many of the marriages today have survived the "storm". However, culture and religious beliefs could also play an important role to "wither the storm". In real life, there are different options in "seeking shelter" out from the "storm" and just like every "storm," there are victims and casualties, an awful reminder of the strengths and power of a "storm."