Rose For Emily Characterization

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Pages: 3

Literary elements partake in huge amounts of literature works. One of the literary devices is characterization, both direct and indirect. William Faulkner uses indirect characterization profoundly in his work of “A Rose for Emily” to show her strange, mysterious personality. William Faulkner develops the character of Miss Emily in “A Rose for Emily” through her family, what people say about her, and her actions.
How Faulkner shows Miss Emily’s relationship with her father and other relatives contribute to the characterization of her. In the text it states, “She had some kin in Alabama; but years ago her father had a fallen out with them over two families. They had not even been represented at the funeral.” (Faulkner 13) Miss Emily’s father
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One of the examples from the text is when Miss Emily is purchasing poison. “‘I want arsenic.’ The druggist looked down at her. She looked back at him, erect, her face like a strained flag. ‘Why of course,’ the druggist said. ‘If that’s what you want. But the law requires you to tell what you are going to use it for.’ Miss Emily just stared at him, her head tilted back in order to look him eye for eye, until he looked away and went and got the arsenic and wrapped it up.” (Faulkner 13) Miss Emily couldn’t tell the druggist what she wanted the poison to be used for, which is peculiar. Also when her father died, she refused to accept the fact that he was dead, in fact, kept him in her house for three days. These examples that Faulkner uses to portray her character also revealing she may not be mentally stable.
When Faulkner uses this aspect of indirect characterization he provides us with a more accurate representation of the character, Miss Emily. This device clearly ties together the entire story of Miss Emily’s life. As you can see, the relationships Emily had with her family, how the people of Jefferson talked about her, and the actions of Miss Emily depicted the literary element, characterization and how essential it is in the works of literature. Without these elements, readers wouldn’t be as interested nor feel like they’re actually a part of the