A Rose For Emily
My problem with the short stories is that I know that there is going to be a surprise ending and while reading I’m always way more suspicious than I should be. With this approach, it’s unavoidable for me to be disappointed at the end of the story as the original ending is never as extreme as my predictions. It wasn’t any different for “ A Rose for Emily “ as well. So I ended up having thoughts like “ hmm, probably Homer Barron’s homosexual lover is going to kill Emily” or “ this servant should be a serial killer “ while reading parts that author probably wrote to make reader think about the life of a noble woman in old times. So it wasn’t fascinating for me to end up with a simple drama ending while expecting a better one. The servant in the story Tobe probably thought the same and was like “ What am I doing here if i’m not going to do something unexpected? “ while simply walking away at the end of the story.
October 15, 2008 @ 2:22 am
Interesting take on the story. I wonder which stories will fulfil your need for such an unexpected ending then? By the way what makes you believe that Homer Barron was homosexual- do you believe that the narrator is reliable? What makes you think he had a homosexual lover? Or is this just an extension of the belief that he was homosexual?
October 17, 2008 @ 6:18 pm
well it wasn’t that i believed he was homosexual or he had a lover. It was just some possibilities that writer could have used to create an unexpected ending. Of course the narrator wasn’t reliable as well and sounded like just an old person from the neighbourhood who loves gossip.