Motionless as an Idol - Columbus State University

Bullock 24[Readers] may well be aware of its limitations and of its occasionally cruelconstraints, but they recognize that the los of cultural cohesion is a genuine loss,all the more so in a world suffering from alienation and atomization. WasFaulkner himself aware of this cultural cohesion? [...] Does it ever clearly surfacein Faulkner's work? Yes, it does. Let me offer a few obvious instances. Thenameless narrator of "A Rose for Emily* never says T thought this' or T believedthat.' Throughout the story he uses phrases such as "Our whole town went to herfuneral'; 'We had long thought*; *We were not pleased exactly, but vindicated'[...] I could continue, but surely it is evident that the man who tells the story ofMiss Emily is consciously speaking for the community, and his story is finallyabout what Miss Emily's life and death meant to the community. (Brooks 31-32)Brooks's position that Faulkner's ultimate goal was to show the impact of Miss Emily's'"life and death" on the community is different from my own, although the role of thecommunity in the story of Miss Emily's life is a significant one in both of ourinterpretations. Faulkner's self-proclaimed goal was never to paint broad, sweepingportraits of entire towns but to focus on the people with whom he found himselffascinated. When questioned about the possibility of symbolism in "A Rose for Emily,"Faulkner replied:That would only be incidental. Ithink that the writer is too busy trying to createflesh-and-blood people that will stand up and cast a shadow to have time to beconscious of all the symbolism that he may put into what he does or what peoplemay read into it. (Faulkner in the University 47)