'A Rose For Emily' by William Faulkner

     

     A story which made me ponder and think about the value of life is 'A Rose For Emily' by William Faulkner. I have read it many times. Putting myself into Emily's shoes, made me realise how important it is to make a wise decision in ones life.

     In this story, Emily was blindly in love with Homer Barron after the death of her father. Having no other siblings or relation around her, Emily loved him seriously. As for Homer Barron, he did not have any idea of getting married to her. Her life filled with loneliness. Emily killed Homer so that he could never leave her.

     Being born in upper class society, her father did not allow her to be married by just anyone. So until the age of thirty she was still single. When Homer entered her life, she did not want to lose him even though he did not have any plan to marry her. Emily poisoned him to prevent him from leaving her for everyone who she had ever cared for had left her. Poor Emily. She had gone crazy and completely lost reality by living with a dead body. She had gone insane because she has not accepted the changes that have occurred around her. She lived in loneliness and isolated herself from the 'world' around her.

    This short story is suitable for teaching literature for students in secondary school. Teachers can ask students to role play the characters, analyse the plot, setting, and etc.  The most important thing is how we as  teachers are going to instill moral values learned from this story. For instance, teachers can discuss with students problems like mental instability and depression which may occur due to loneliness. Take for example Emily in the story, she should have seeked help from her relatives or friends but unfortunately, she made a wrong decision and lost her life living with a corpse.

     Teachers can make students appreciate their family, be thankful to God for sustaining their life and never be like Emily. From the story, students may come to realise that 'Life is so precious'.