Structuralism: A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner

Agbay, Noralyn G. December 2017

Overview

Gerard Genette believes that Tropes or Figure of Speech requires reader’s special attention.
Together with Roland Barthes, Tzevetan Todorov, they provide us various approaches to text, all furnish
with metalanguage. Metalanguage refers to words used to describe language to understand what the text
means.
The five main concepts used by Genette in Narrative Discourse: An Essay in Method. The
following are primarily used to look at the syntax of narratives rather than to perform an interpretation of
them.
(a) Order  which simply implies that it is not always in chronological order as most expected t
to be. It may use flashback; flash-forward or in medias res. These disarrangement on the
level of order are termed ‘anachrony’.

(b) Frequency  refers to the separation between event and its narration allows several
possibilities such as:
i. An event can occur once and be narrated once (singular).
Ex. 'Today I went to the shop.'
ii. An event can occur n times and be narrated once (iterative).
Ex. 'I used to go to the shop.'
iii. An event can occur once and be narrated n times (repetitive).
Ex. 'Today I went to the shop' + 'Today he went to the shop' etc.
iv. An event can occur n times and be narrated n times (multiple).
Ex. 'I used to go to the shop' + 'He used to go to the shop' + 'I went to the shop
yesterday' etc.

(c) Duration  The separation between an event and its narration means that there is discourse
time (length of time to read) and narrative time (length of time in the text) as the two
elements of duration.

(d) Voice  is concerned with who narrates, and from where. This can be split four ways.
i. Where the narration is from?
• Intra-diegetic: inside the text. e.g. Willkie Collins' The Woman in White
• Extra-diegetic: outside the text. e.g. Thomas Hardy's Tess of the D'Urbervilles
ii. Is the narrator a character in the story?

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 Structuralism: A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner
Agbay, Noralyn G. December 2017

• Hetero-diegetic: the narrator is not a character in the story. e.g. Homer's The Odyssey
• Homo-diegetic: the narrator is a character in the story. e.g. Emily Brontë's Wuthering
Heights.

(e) Mood  Genette said narrative mood is dependent on the 'distance' and 'perspective' of the
narrator, and like music, narrative mode has predominant patterns. It is related to voice.
Distance of the narrator changes with narrated speech, transposed speech and reported
speech. Perspective of the narrator is called focalization. Narratives can be non-focalized,
internally focalized or externally focalize.

More so, he defines paratext as those things in a published work that accompany the text, thins
such as the author’s name, title, preface or illustrations. Genette states "More than a boundary or a sealed
border, the paratext is, rather, a threshold." It is "a zone between text and off-text, a zone not only of
transition but also of transaction: a privileged place of pragmatics and a strategy, of an influence on the
public, an influence that ... is at the service of a better reception for the text and a more pertinent reading
of it".

Gerard Genette’s Theoretical Framework. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%A9rard_Genette

A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner (1930)

Unlocking Difficulties www.google.com

Cedar-Bemused  almost lost in cedar trees.

Perpetuity  released from paying taxes forever
Diffident deprecation  timid disapproval
Noblesse oblige  the responsibility of people in a high social position to behave in a noble fashion
Jalousies  blinds or shutters containing overlapping slats that can be opened or closed.
Cabal  a group united in a secret plot
Bier  coffin along with its stand

Acrid pall  bitter-smelling gloom

Cuckolded him  made his wife or lover unfaithful to him
Imperviousness  inability to be affected or disturbed

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 Structuralism: A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner
Agbay, Noralyn G. December 2017

This literary piece of Faulkner, like the majority of his works, takes place in the fictional
Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi. The story revolves around the social customs of the small-town
South at the turn of 20th century. Also, the narrator here refers to an African American.

Voice. The point of view is in 1st person and it is plural. It uses the pronoun ‘our’. “When miss
Emily Grierson died, our whole town went to her funeral (line 1, par. 1). I could say that the voice of this
narrative is in Intra-Homo-Diegetic since the narrator is one of the character and is a part of the story
world. And it is very obvious in the first line of the narration. The narrator clearly describes the scenes.
In chapter II of the narrative, Faulkner includes dialogue which makes it possible for this
narrative summary to include the townspeople’s perceptions of his main character. Also, the dialogue
helps in capturing the gossips and the conflicts among the small-town perspectives. “But what will you
have me do about it , madam? He said.(line8 par.2) “I’m sure that won’t be necessary…(line 10, par. 2)
Then in Chapter V, the narrator used the pronoun ‘we’ which indicates that the narrator acted in
the story as one of the character. “Daily, monthly, we watched the Negro grow grayer and more
stooped…Each December we sent her a tax notice…(line 29-30, par.9)
Hence, the narrator in this narration, whoever s/he was, definitely knows and cares for Emily for
the knowledge and understanding that the narrator was able to narrate. That narrator though unnamed,
served as the town’s collective voice. But, as I have read, my suspicion is that the narrator is none other
the servant. He addresses Emily as ‘Miss Emily’; he knew about the upstairs bedroom and knew a lot of
things about Emily.

Frequency. I would say that in the narration, an event can occur once and be narrated several
times making it repetitive.

Order. When it comes to order or sequencing of events. The first part, chapter I, describes the
funeral of Emily. “When miss Emily Grierson died, our whole town went ot her funeral (line 1, par. 1) It
was a big, squarish frame house that had once been white…(line 2, par.2) And now, Miss Emily had

gone to join the representatives of those august names where thy lay in the cedar-bemused
cemetery…(line 3, par.2). Then, on the third paragraph the narrations jumped back to the time when Miss

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 Structuralism: A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner
Agbay, Noralyn G. December 2017

Emily was still alive. “Alive, Miss Emily had been a tradition, a duty and a care…dating from that day in
1894…(line 1,par.3).
Then again in paragraph 4, it jumps to the next generation describing the tax notice and
collection. “when the next generation…(line 1, par.4) On the first of the year they mailed her a tax
notice (line 2,par.4) February came…(line 3, par. 4).
Then in Chapter II, the narration describes the death of the father and the smell that comes out of
the house. “So the next night, after midnight, four men crossed Miss Emily’s lawn…and sprinkled lime
there…after a week or two the smell went away.. (line 89-92, par.5)”.
In Chapter III, the narration here clearly state the age of Emily when the things described here
had happened like the buying of poison, “She was sick for a long time (line 1 par. 1)”; “I want some
poison, she said to the druggist (lone14, par.6)”
In Chapter IV, the narration talks about Homer Barron and Emily. “So the next day..she had
begun to be seen with Homer Barron…(line 1-2, par.1) At first nothing happened. Then we were sure
that they were to be married. (line 9-10, par.3)
Lastly, in Chapter V, the narration revolves around a more detailed scene of the funeral of Emily.
The Negro met the fist of the ladies at the front door and let them in…The tow female cousins came at
once…(line 1&3, par. 1). Then they found out the room that was not seen in forty years where they stood
for a long time, looking down at the profound and fleshless grin.
Thus, the order of the narrative is not in the usual chronological order. It uses transitions that
indicates the time of what particular part of the events is being narrated. It also used flashback and
foreshadowing.

Duration. The Discourse time is short because readers like me can read it for couple of hours
only or in one sitting. Whilst, the narrative time is long because it covers several parts of the life of Emily
from the time her body was buried back to the time that she was still at her 30s up to the time of her father
and Homer.

Mood. The story ends with a grotesque discovery. But, from first part, the author’s dark, gothic

mood has prepared us for a creepy revelation in the end. “For a long while we just stood there, looking
down at the profound and fleshless grin. The body had apparently once lain in the attitude of an
embrace. But now, the long sleep that outlasts love, that conquers even the grimace of love, had
cuckolded him…line 10&11 par.5 ch.V)”.

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 Structuralism: A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner
Agbay, Noralyn G. December 2017

Perspective. Although the narrator seems to care about Emily for the narrator knew all these
about her, the perspective is cold and objective. It never interferes in the events any sympathy towards
Emily. If in case there is, in some part of the narration I would say that it was all because of respect, duty
and tradition.

Narrative Effect of Faulkner in the Story? Does it apply to other work of Faulkner?
With ‘A Rose for Emily’ and other stories and novels, Faulkner invented a unique vision of the
South—a mythic narrative weighed down by gloom and peopled by deeply flawed characters. Faulkner’s
mythic South has influenced Southern fiction ever since from short stories of Flannery O’Conner to more
recent fiction by writers such as Alan Gurganus and Edward P. Jones.

William Faulkner.A Rose for Emily. http://www.wwnorton.com/college/english/litweb05/workshops/fiction/faulkner1.

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