Free Essay Comparing "A Rose for Emily" and "Frankenstei

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Comparing "A Rose for Emily" and "Frankenstein"

Both of the stories that will be compared in this paper, William Faulkner�s �A Rose for Emily� and Mary Shelley�s Frankenstein, are very demented novels that contain central premises very estranged to most readers. Though Faulkner�s �A Rose for Emily� is a short story, the depth and description contained inside its brief text give it the ability to be compared to a novel such as Frankenstein; primarily it�s ability to explain the factors relating to Miss Emily�s obsession for keeping her loved ones around after they have deceased. Similarly, in Shelley�s Frankenstein, the evil and murderous nature of the beast created by Victor Frankenstein is well described in many angles and shows the prevalent need for the monster to make Victors life as unbearable and lonely as his has been since his creation and immediate expulsion by Victor. So throughout this paper I plan to show the similarities in description and style of writing of these two pieces of literature, even though they differ in length so greatly.

Both plots contain elements that shock and amaze the reader by introducing them to ideas not normally seen in most novels. The dark nature in both stories can be startling, but are the central components and are used to make for a more interesting and intriguing story for the reader. Though a horror story is more common in this day and age, a story to the effect of Frankenstein was unheard of in 1818 when the book was written. Both novels have a powerful effect on the mind and imagination of the reader. In Frankenstein before the creation Shelley says, �Who shall conceive the horrors of my secret toil as I dabbled among the unhallowed damps of the grave or tortured the living animal to animate the lifeless clay?�(p. 53) This line shows great explanation and detail while leaving so much to the readers imagination. Faulkner does much the same thing in �A Rose for Emily�, saying, �What was left of him, rotted beneath what was left of the nightshirt, had become inextricable from the bed in which he lay; and upon him and upon the pillow beside him lay that even coating of the patient and biding dust.�(p. 247) Both of these quotes show the dark nature and description of the cryptic images while leaving much to the imagination.

These cryptic images are also noticed in the usage of daunting setting such as the secluded house in Faulkner�s story and the castle in Shelley�s. Both places of creation (Frankenstein) or decay (�A Rose for Emily�) reside in a more desolate or isolated setting than normal and provide a foreboding atmosphere. As Faulkner describes a �decaying� white house which was �an eyesore among eyesores� in a dwindling neighborhood, Shelley depicts a mansion which is overshadowed by a seemingly foretelling fog at the top of a hill in the countryside. The locations which these take place are used to create and ill-omened background for the stories but also give the means necessary to be able to procure a monster or a house desolate enough to be able to hide the decomposition of the bodies. These are key elements in the stories and should not be overlooked.

Another key element in these stories is the use of a lifeless body as an ominous figure. In Frankenstein, Shelley says, �With an anxiety that almost amounted to agony, I collected the instruments of life around me, that I might infuse a spark of being into the lifeless thing that lay at my feet.� (p. 56). She uses this image to presage the occurrence of the evil things that could happen through the creation of this being. The reader should recognize this fact, even though not stated, because one can not know the abilities of this being due to the fact that before the animation process the components of it are of a sorted and virtually unknown nature. Similarly, Faulkner uses the death of Miss Emily�s father and her subsequent reaction to the death as a means of foretelling the dementia surrounding Miss Emily that will pursue in the rest of the novel. Faulkner states: �The day after his death all the ladies prepared to call at the house and offer condolence and aid, as is our custom. Miss Emily met them at the door, dressed as usual and with no trace of grief on her face. She told them that her father was not dead.� (p. 244)

Also, common in many horror or gothic stories we question the motives of the main characters in the story for doing exactly what they do. While Shelley makes Victor Frankenstein�s purpose clear, we should not accept this motive totally sincerely. Shelley writes that Victor�s ambitions are to, ��renew life where death had apparently devoted the body to corruption�, seemingly a noble motive. (p. 53) However, we can not overlook his more selfish goals of being the first man to construct a live being. This creates a matter of doubt on the purpose of Victor and conflicts his actions as a device of a �mad� scientist or one of a righteous individual. In �A Rose for Emily� we can never really know the reasons that Emily decided to preserve the body of her deceased forlorn lover in her bedroom. This was obviously an act of a mentally unstable woman, which makes the story twisted and harder to discern the reason for her actions.

These stories represent the horror motif and do a brilliant job of engaging the reader in their perverse and abnormal elements. While reading �A Rose for Emily� and Frankenstein one can see how well the stories relate to each other on many levels. The gothic tradition is not at a loss on the conception of either of these stories. However, Frankenstein contains another component that �A Rose for Emily� lacks, that is the element of romanticism. Living during the Romantic Era obviously had a great deal of influence on Shelley�s writing. Her use of non-viable or unbelievable characters is an illustration of this point along with many other aspects such as the bizarre subject matter and the cryptic settings. The grotesque methods of her writing also emphasize these romantic traits and further enhance the details of this skillfully manufactured novel. The lack of these elements in �A Rose for Emily� is partly due to the length and subject matter that is discussed. It is difficult to fit in the intricacies as used in Frankenstein in such a small amount of space and there for leaves the novel comparable in content and allusions, but affects its ability to introduce the kind depth and content associated with Frankenstein. Both novels are great examples of superb literary mastery and should be viewed as such, while also recognizing the differences in the time in which they were written and the length accordingly.