Homer Barron Is New Tragedy A New Interpretation of A Rose for Emily 英语毕业论文.docx

homer barron is new tragedy: a new interpretation of a rose for emilyi. introduction“a rose for emily” is a famous short story by william faulkner, and emily grierson, the protagonist of this story has been studied a lot. all the articles are analyzing emilys tragedy, arguing that emily is a victim of southern culture, patriarchal society and so on. however, most critics neglect a character in the story, homer barron, is also a victim in this story. nevertheless, this concept is fully influenced by the traditional gender role and homophobia. homer barron is a foreman coming from north, and he has a relationship with emily. emily treats him as a man who can marry her in the end. however, when she knows that he would not marry her, she kills homer out of love and hate. homer barron is killed by emily, yet, not many people are studying homer as a victim; instead, they would rather than argue that homer barron is a major factor which causes emilys tragedy. whats more, most critics take it for granted that homer barron is a homosexual. they put the sentences: “he liked men, and it was known that he drank with the younger men in the elks club” (faulkner 59) and “he was not the marrying man” (faulkner 59) into the evidences to prove homer barron is a gay. among them hal blythe takes this narrators words as evidence of homers homosexuality (49). one would suspect if barron were using his open courtship of emily as a cover for his homosexuality (caesar 196). judith caesar considers that the people considering homer barron as a gay are using the close reading techniques and the contemporary concept to unscramble the works at the time (195). and here, i want to defend this character, homer barron.firstly, i need to argue that barron is not a pure homosexual. and then, i will analyze that homer barron is a victim who is trapped by emily for two reasons: 1) the relationship between emily and her father is kind of abnormal. jack scherting argues that emily has electra complex and alleges that homer barron is just the one who substitutes for her father (397-405). 2) emily grierson is fully impacted by her father (fang 20), not only his lifetime but also after his death, and those make emily treat homer in different ways and eventually kill him. all these reasons pave the way for homer barron to be a victim.in conclusion, this thesis is aimed at warranting homer barrons homosexuality to give people a new understanding of him and analyzing homer barron as another victim, a new tragedy in the story. ii. homer is not a pure homosexuala rose for emily, a great short story wrote by william faulkner. the protagonist is emily grierson. after her fathers death, she is so depressed. after a few years, homer barron as a yankee foreman comes to the town, and emily falls in love with him. she treats him as the one who would marry her and live with her. however, barron is not the man who would marry a woman in that time, so after emily knows the fact, she cant accept it so she kills homer barron and lays him on her bed for quite a long time. as mentioned in the first part most critics take homer barron as a homosexual. however, if homer is gay, there come at least two questions: 1) if the villages know that homer is a homosexual, why they still believe that she has fallen love with homer? if the villages know that homer is a homosexual, it equals to that “we” admit that he only likes man, and then there is no possibility for “us” to believe emily would fall in love with homer. but in the context, the villages said “we believed that she was fallen,” so it is inconsistent and it means the premise, homer is gay, is false. 2) if homer is a gay, then why he comes back after he “was gone” when “the street had been finished some time” and finds emily immediately? if homer is a gay, and he just pretends to fall in love with emily, that is to say: barron is using his open courtship of emily as a cover for his homosexuality. so when he has the opportunity to leave jefferson, he would never come back and find the troublesome business when he finally gets rid of the trap of the emilys love. but in the context, he finds emily immediately when he comes back to the town. so it is inconsistent and this premise is false, either. we should not only focus on the original text. caesar argues that “this misunderstanding take the original text as the only evidence to prove homer barron is a gay comes from a lack of knowledge about attitudes toward homosexuality at the time the story was written and at the time the story takes place” (196). now in the modern times, the sentences “he liked man” (faulkner 59)and “he was not the marrying man” (faulkner 59) could be interpreted as mans homosexuality, however in the 1930s, its more “probably imply socially approved male bonding and heterosexual misogyny ” (caesar 196).actually, people who take homer barron as a homosexual are impacted by the traditional gender role. our gender plays a crucial role in building our relationships with others (tyson 108).traditional gender role impacts us and it makes us form a normal perception: male should go out with female. however, the way that homer always stay with young men challenges the peoples traditional concept, and then he is put on as an abnormal one, a homosexual. but that is not the only way for us to understand these two sentences. we can interpret “he liked man, and it was known that he drank with the younger men in the elks club” (faulkner 59) in another way: he prefers to go out with men and only have a drink with them in a club (caesar 196). what we should not do is regarding elks club as a molly house for gay men gathering around and having social activities or the place for homer luring other men but just a bar or place for the man to drink, tell jokes and share the news. another sentence, “he was not the marring kind,” can be interpreted as he doesnt brace for forming a family and doesnt want to be trapped into the trivial things in family life. moreover, emily understands one thing from her fathers death: death can leave the one you love stay with you, you would never lose him.whats more, emily is deemed as a “monument” and “a tradition, a duty, and a care” (faulkner 53) in jefferson, if the people clearly know that homer is a gay, how could they hope that emily “will persuade him yet” (faulkner 59)? so, from all these aspects, we should not simply deem homer barron as a homosexual, otherwise we will miss the fact that in those days many americans thoughts are exceedingly different on gender, race, class and sexual behavior from that of the majority of young americans now. so, not taking homer barron as a homosexual can help us know a broader field on this storys background. iii. emily and her fathers abnormal relationshipmr. grierson is the total authority in that family and her daughter is totally influenced by the authority of her father and she trusts her father completely. and the dominance of her father over her life lasted all through her life (“freudian theory” 27). and during this long period, emily builds up the electra complex towards her father and this complex roots into her spiritual world. when her father was alive, he controlled her all day. when her father died, “miss emily met them the visitors at the door, dressed as usual and with no trace of grief on her face. she told them that her father was not dead. she did that for three days”(faulkner 57), actually during this part we can see that she could not accept the fact that her father died and she had no one to rely on, and she tells the villagers that her father is not dead, in that she could still keep the body of her father. only in this way can she cling to her father. furthermore, after the body is disposed, there still is a portrait for her to cling to, and thats why she doesnt take the portrait down. the portrait, in the rest of her life actually becomes the totem in her religious world, though she has tried to love another man (“freudian theory” 28).as mentioned before, old grierson and emily live together for a long time. and there is one thing: his spouse has never been mentioned that means he was a widower. and in this family, his daughter, emily becomes his only support and refuge when he becomes a widower. he has emily as his only consoler that he would not resign her to another man easily (“freudian theory” 33). marriage for women could be the most important thing and the main source of their happiness (“freudian theory” 32). however, old grierson drives away all the man coming to pursue emily, and it not only shows that he finds that none of them agrees with his standard, but also shows that he uses his authority to block the happiness of his daughter and that made emily “got to be thirty and was still single” (faulkner 57). as a father, what mr. grierson should do is to help her daughter find the man that she does really love, the man who can live a happy life with her. why does he drive away all the suitors and keep his daughter only in the house? theres only one answer: the relationship between his and his daughter is more than a daughter-and-father relationship; their relationship is kind of abnormal. iv. homer is a victim and tragedyas concluded before, homer barron is not a pure homosexual and this is the precondition that homer barron and emily can have a normal relationship just like normal lovers. and emily already falls in love with barron, “they passed on sunday afternoon in the glittering buggy, miss emily with her head high and homer barron with his hat cocked and a cigar in his teeth, reins and whip in a yellow glove” (faulkner 59), and they have an appointment. and “miss emily had been to the jewelers and ordered a mans toilet set in silver, with the letters h. b. on each piece. two days later we the narrator learned that she had bought a complete outfit of mens clothing, including a nightshirt” (faulkner 59-60), she buys so many things for him and it refers that emily begins to prepare for her wedding one side only. from their appointment and emilys action, we can tell that emily has already treated homer barron as a man who could rely on and who could live with her all her life. however, this cannot happen because homer would not marry her. actually the hidden meanings in homer barrons name indicate the ending. “homer” represents home. emily considers that homer could build a home with her not only in a solid form but also can build a spiritual home (zhang 33). however, this is just from emilys unilateral imagination. barron refers to “the fruitless, or barren, union with miss emily” (jacobs 79). when knowing that homer would not marry her, emily immediately feels threatened and she cannot bear another man whom she does really love leaving her behind, and eventually she treats that kind of behavior as a betrayal. here, homer barron has already broken the defense of emily and emily starts to feel the anxiety which is an important experience because it can reveal the core issues (tyson 16). and emilys core issues are the fear of abandonment and the fear of betrayal. as i have concluded before that death can leave the one you love stay with you, you would never lose him. in that the fear of abandonment and betrayal and along with the experience of her father, she chooses the only way that she can make homer stay with her forever is to kill him. only because her psychic trauma and only to appease her own appetite, she kills an innocent man. cant it be a tragedy?moreover, whether to marry is a fundamental right, but homer barrons right is deprived by emily. because, before he can make a choice whether to marry emily, he is killed by emily. a mans right is deprived when he still has it and it makes homer barron become a victim and tragedy in this story. besides, when the villagers come into emilys house and find a corpse lie on the bed, without showing a little bit sorry or pity on him they just stood there for a long time. from the flat tone and the words of narration, we can see their indifference. no one thought that “a yankeea big, dark, ready man”(faulkner 57) should have pity. he is the one killed by emily, but no one shows any mercy on him or holds a funeral for a murdered victim. on the contrary, they held a funeral for emily, a killer, and “our whole town went to her funeral” (faulkner 53) just because she is the monument of the south culture. just because homer barron is a yankee, his death is no worthier than the death of an animal. impacted by the south culture, those villagers lead to homer barrons death. all these factors form the tragedy of homer.to sum up, we should not take homer barron as a pure homosexual because thats the foundation for homer and emily having a relationship. emily and her fathers abnormal relationship and her fathers death impact her so deep that she coul