徐一平

被强“仔”忽悠了一个晚上
我决定好好练习钻研一下魔术这条道路
T66因为强悍外宾的晚点了一个多小时
对于这种只做得起火车的二杆子外宾
SHOW MY GREATEST DISTRAINING
回家就 被妈妈改造成了洋娃娃
又买了一个少的只有三片布的比基尼
我要风生水起

Abstract: A Rose For Emily is a representitive shortstory with Gothic elements and local characteristics of sothern America. This article studys the symbolism of Willaim Faulkner through analysing some colors which frequently appeare in the novel, such as pale, black, gray and yellow, to give an objective and profound analysis and study of this literary work.

Tags: A Rose For Emily, Symbols, Pale, Black, Gray, Yellow

 

A Rose For Emily, one of William Faulkner’s representitive work, tells a story of Miss Emily in a small town of southern America. She was a daugther of a precedented ruler, kept solidary till her death when people found she had killed her lover Homer Barron and slept with his body for fourty years in the upstairs of her house. Faulkner uses long and difficult sentences, complex plots and mixed-up time sequence to approach a despairing and glooming image of Miss Emily to the reader. However, from those recondite word dictions, Faulner’s choosing of color image has an unexpected coincidence.

I. The Symbol of Color Pale in A Rose For Emily

From the novel, we can have a distinct impession of Miss Emilly’s appearance, which Faulkner had portrayed 4 times. As the time passed by, Emily’s appearance has changes, but the unchanged image was her pale face, “she looked bloated, like a body long submerged in motionless water, and of that pallid hue.” The author uses a simile to describe Miss Emily’s solitary, close and depressing life in her house, which also is her tower in her heart without entrance. At the end of the novel, when people find the “fobbiden room” on the upstair with the masculine decoration, there also has a “pale crescent in the dust ” on the surface of Barron’s collar and tie. It is also an symbol of imagination that Mr. Barron had been “invited” and locked into Emily’s life, her internal tower.

II. The Symbol of Color Black in A Rose For Emily

The color black has appeared twice in the whole story, one is in the first description of Emily’s appearance—

..a small, fat woman in black, with a thin gold chain descending to her waist and vanishing into her belt, leaning on an ebony cane with a tarnished gold head.

When the officials went to her house of tex issues. The other black is appeared when Emily bought the poison in drug store—

with cold, haughty black eyes in a face the flesh of which was strained across the temples and about the eye-sockets as you imagine a lighthouse-keeper’s face ought to look.

In these color expressions, the black color symbolizes two reflective meanings.

One is the proud of the southern America. Black is usually regarded as the symbol of elegance and conventionality, the “haughty black eye” with the “woman in black” gives us an imaging of a fastuous and conservative noble female in southern America, with a great sense of dignity and bigotry. What’s more, the “thin gold chain” with “a tarnished gold head” also proved her arrogance, as well as symbolize the decline of southern American glories.

The other is regarded as Emily’s desperation.

On the fomer scene, Emily’s solidary life is broke by several official man in her hall. When she knows they are coming to levy her tax, she acts obstinatly, asking them to “see Colonel Sartoris”, who once remitted her family’s tax but already dead for a ten years. She uses black to hide her scare, uses repeating words “see Colonel Satoris” to show the officials her long-time isolation from the society, uses indifferent to release her desparation of life. At last “she vanquished them”---she no longer has to pay taxes till her death. She evictes the officials out of her house, but she also cut off the relationship between her internal tower and external communication. What a desperate victory!

On the latter scene, Emily faces the desperation of love. It maybe the first time ever does she opens the door of her internal tower, but what she has welcomed is not her love, but the desperate disparities of rank and life style. Emily Grierson is “the Grierson”, the noble of southern America, while Homer Barron is “a Northerner, a day laborer”. Emily’s life is in her house, all of her outdoor activities and chances to open her tower have been driven away by her father. When she falls in love with Homer, she spontaneously wants him to come into her tower and then close the door again. However, as to the nobless Northerner Homer Barron, what he whoship the most is freedom, and adventure. Emily knows these gaps cannot be solved except one have to give it up. Unfortunately, neither will them. Her desperate black eyes foresees the tragic end of her love story, and use them to get the compromised poison.

III. The Symbol of Color Gray in A Rose For Emily

The color gray appears most requently in the novel. There are four scene appears gray color. The first appearance happens in a night, “three graybeard and one younger man” discusse to notice Miss Emily about the “bad smelling” from her house.

“It’s simple enough,” he(the young man) said. “Send her word to have her place cleaned up. Given her a certain time to do it in, and if she don’t…”

“Dammit, sir,” Judge Stevens said, “will you accuse a lady to her face of smelling bad?”

This is a representitive conflict between the conventional southern gentleman and the rising generation. Gray, which lies between black and white, is a color of moderation. In here the graybeard not only refers to those venerable men in the small town, but also symbolizes the moderate and inoffensive concepts of the conventional southern America. They think one to accuse a woman’s tydiness is so impolite as a gentleman that he’d rather to “slunk about the house like burglars”, sprinkels lime around the house in order to let the smell go away. No one has ever doubt if their inoffensive action is really a gentleman at all.

The second appearance is about the Negro:

Daily, monthly, yearly we watched the Negro grow grayer and more stooped, going in and out with the market basket.

The Negro has no name. He appeares in every scene of the novel, consorts with Miss Emily to the end of her life. It is another characteristics of southern America—the slavery. The Negro cannot live, even cannot die before his master die. He is the one who really close to Emily’s life, for he is living in her house, neighbouring her internal tower. He is the only servant of the house, the one who most likely have taken part in the murder and who have chances to go and see the upstairs. But he keeps loyal silence. He knows Emily’s torture, her love, her despair, and her secret. It is hard to believe that he would not be affected by her. So the Negro’s internal grows grayer, either. He builds a imitated tower of himself to keep his master’s secrets, rarely chat with anyone else. He just wait for the time to escape from the glooming house, the guilty of his heart, and the chains of his loyalty. Not until his master Emily’s died does “..he disappeared. He walked right through the house and out the back and was not seen again.”

The third and forth appearance are about Miss Emily:

When we next saw Miss Emily, she had grown fat and her hair was turning gray. During the next few years it grew grayer and grayer until it attained an even pepper-and-salt iron-gray, when it ceased turining. Up to the day of her death at seventy-four it was still that vigorous iron-gray, like the hair of an active man.

and

Then we noticed that in the second pillow was the indentation of a head. One of us lifted something from it, and leaning forward, that faint and invisible dust dry and acrid in the nostrils, we saw a long strand of iron-gray hair.

at the end of the novel. these are not only embodied the time flying. According to the time sequence, Miss Emily’s hair turns gray during a few year after she killed her lover Homer. And then it stops to grow or come off. That’s to say, the color gray is more than a time symbol. It also symbolizes the desperation and bigotry of Emily. Gray as iron, is Emily’s tenacity of love. She was locked in the house by his father for such a long time that what love means to her is nothing but possessing. She builds a iron house in her heart painted with gray and invited Homer to her fairy tale. However, she finally finds what she has really received is a dead embraced-shape boby. “When it ceased turning,” till her death, her hair ceases turning, which gives us a picture of a heart-dead woman. Her hair stops turning, her heart is dead, and her inner tower closed forever.

IV. The Symbol of Color Yellow in A Rose For Emily

Among the pale, black and gray, the yellow must be a distinguished color shines in the glooming life of Emily. When

Presently we began to see him(Homer Barron) and Miss Emily on Sunday afternoon driving in the yellow-wheeled buggy and the matched team of bays from the livery stable.

And when we saw

They passedd 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.

can we analyse that yellow here represents the dream, the love, the new and the salvation of Emily’s life. However, the yellow is different from the gold, though the gold is tarnished. The power of Emily’s love is yellow, no matter how glittering and shining it is, it cannot conquer the instinctive conceit of her family’s tarnished glory; even cannot conquer the iron wall of her internal tower. At last, she destroys the yellow fairy tale of her life, locked the salvational sun in to her dim sin upstairs, turned it into an olid desperation.

  Not until when we saw

She died in one of the downstairs rooms, in a heavy walnut bed with a curtain, her gray head propped on a pillow yellow and moldy with age and lack of sunlight

did we raise a question—why doesn’t she die with Homer in the upstair? She would rather reach the end of her life alone in the downstairs than lie beside her love the last one time. It tells us a cruel fact that Emily finnally come to unterstand what she has fallen in love was not Homer Barron, but the yellow itself. She love the freedom of her heart, love the fresh of her life, love those Sunday afternoons on the yellow-wheel buggy. She used a man’s life and 40 years to understand the truth, and die with it.

 

If there used to be a rose for Emily, it might be a yellow rose. What Emily exhausted her whole life to detain is the pale, black and gray thorns of it’s wattle, but the beautiful yellow petals had already withered as soon as she locked it into her dim tower.

 

Works Cited

袁宪军等编 《英语小说选读》 北京大学出版社 2006

胡全生,胡开宝等. 20世纪英美文学选读—现代主义卷 上海交通大学出版社,2003.

Rubinstein. Annette T. “American Literature Root and Flower”  Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, 1998.

Setting, tones:

http://www.shmoop.com/literary-device/literature/william-faulkner/a-rose-for-emily/symbols-imagery-allegory.html


..............不得不说。。。

我太有才了！！！！！！！！！！

给老妈打了个电话
原来真的很有效
老妈说
这倒霉孩子！人生一共俩事儿
一个感情
一个学业
去了趟普驼山
感情没了，学业也完了
一无所有了还！


佛给我大失去
必舍我大获得
这灰暗的人生于我
正是光芒万丈的前奏！

Et quand plus rien neva
Et que l'amour n'est pas
Il n'en reste qu'a nous
De devoir tout changer

最近的状态有点象历史上超级无敌大怨妇陈阿娇靠拢的趋势。
但是历史告诉我们，哪怕有个司马相如给你写BLOG，悲剧还是悲剧。
而我现在的这怨妇状态，非但不能名留史册，于我人生来说可能都是一个笑话
。所以停吧！
自怨自艾到此为止吧！
努力对他微笑吧！！

单身以后
发现食量骤减
开始喜欢发呆
不再对电子书产生兴趣
感觉新街口的男人都变帅了
会有老大爷上下打量我
穿的少点居然还会有陌生男人起哄
看到你的时候心会砰砰直跳
想做出很平静的表情
但是不知道为什么开心了一天
只因为看见了你

单身以后
发现你其实不是个帅哥
开始不停的迁怒
一点鸡毛蒜皮都让我暴走
会借着选课选不上的问题
在教务处痛哭流涕
把那三八教务处呕八桑吓的躲出去
可以无所顾忌的吃酸辣粉
再被辣的哭成一摊

单身以后
发现一家牛排店
条件反射的想说
老公我又发现一家店好吃的不行行了
还有冰桔茶哦
既而发现你不在了
既而发现也没有人陪我吃烧烤和小肥羊了

单身以后
终于买了草编高跟鞋了
穿了半个时辰磨出三个水泡
我边哭边笑
我要将脚磨的象心般坚硬
不在受伤

单身以后
回顾了一下自己这两年来的BLOG
发现我的智商回归了
热恋时那般弱智的笔锋
现在想学也学不出来
也明白了什么是事过境迁
什么是人老珠黄
原本穿双拖鞋都能引起他意淫的某人
因为嘴里长个泡而再不愿吻我

爱情之于我
是一场战争
对于那些心灵上的弱者
对他们残忍或仁慈
只是我的施舍
而对于那些只能用爱才能与之搏斗的强敌
我喜欢孤注一掷
奋不顾身
清尽我所有
不能使之臣服
那便玉石俱焚
肝胆相照

如若你露出疲态
我便马上收回我的剑
尽管我可能会被自己的作用力震出内伤
但这是礼貌
和对对手的尊重

我终究会运气调息
再次战到这战场上
那时的你
还配做我的对手吗！？

我还是来了。 
昨天放下电话的时候心理只是轻轻的纠结，更多的是一份苦笑的麻木。。
 重新在拿起那些穿越小说的时候轻笑，不过是少了个不称职的亲吻者罢了。 
可半夜却怎么也无法入睡，习惯性的看看手机，突然反应过来的把你的名字删掉，然后再嘲笑一遍自己的幼稚。
 想起在收到你那条信息之前正在清理短信的我，被一条新信息震的缩成一团，可笑可笑。 
然后一点一点，一个指头一个指头的把自己舒展开来，我又是一个决绝而潇洒的我了。 
今天一天过的都很熨贴，下午的时候给教学秘书打了个电话，被告之选课通道关闭，这学期课可能白上了的时候，盯着屏幕的我突然心头一堵，好象一团酸涩而冰冷的气一下从心中升出，卡在心窝，上不来，下不去。
 按说，现在我应该早将电话打出去，撒娇的苦诉自己选课的问题，再问一句不期待答案的修饰性疑问句“怎么办呀？”，得到的爱抚小猫一样温暖的无建设性意见的安慰。大不了出去吃一顿缓解一下郁闷的情绪。
 这仿佛成了这两年多来我每次遇到问题是惯有的戏码，既无意义又有可能暗藏一比吃喝的开销。
 但当这个桥段突然生生的被抽出体外，抽出我的生活，取而代之的竟是那样一股酸涩，逼得我不得不扶住墙壁，一动也不敢动的将它慢慢咽下，才能不再缩成一团，露出那戚戚艾艾的小女儿做派。 
但我不再后悔，相反，我为你喝彩。
 两年多走过来，你在有可能被别人指责“小三”的压力和我之间选择了我，在积点和我之间选择了我，在格子和我之间选择了我，甚至在你自己和我之间，也选择了我。那次我们一共只有10块钱又都一天没吃饭的时候，你用那10快给我买的两个包子一碗汤，自己装不喜欢吃装困在我面前埋下头去的肩膀，我永远不会忘记，这是你独特的浪漫，我怎么会忘记。
 而你在你的未来，或者说你的江山和我之间，舍掉了我。
我理解，甚至欣慰，你以一个男人的姿态做出的选择。
我没有错看你，你值得我爱你。 
你做出了迄今为止最明智的选择，代价是失去最珍贵的我。

最近有点不太对劲。。。。
恩
爹来看我，我很兴奋，以为终于到了我成为剥削阶级的日子，爹对我这个根本矛盾也抱着一个愿打一个愿挨的心态迢迢赶来。结果却是我差点被剥了一圈肉肉。。。
爹和我的审美的落差虽然我已早有准备，但每想到简直是无法忍受的那种，一同shopping那般其乐融融的景象简直成了一个美丽的扯。然而，天公不知为何待我如此之薄，让我在爹来的这个期间又发急性肠炎，吃不下咽，日日马桶为伴，课上不了，街逛不成，题没法做，日子没法过。拉的我昏天黑地朝不保夕。。。
爹回去了，我的肠炎也好差不多了。。本以为灰暗的人生即将绽放色彩，结果发现突击两个星期的高口的SHORT TERM MENMORY已顺着马桶远去了，眼看大后天要考试，一点点状态都没有，还遭受着疾病的折磨。。。我招谁惹谁了！
其实说自己不重视结果不重视结果，可比谁都重视，要不然不会失调成这样。、
但是明明知道成功的彼岸渐行渐远，可还是不想给自己寻找失败的理由，还是不甘心，还是不想妄自菲薄，还是有点小小IDEALISM，却又再拿不动浆了。
WHAT A 萧何！

本来不想来，可是必须要来
要我的小小歪酷来见证我的成长。
在我度过了懵懂的少年，
晃过了骚动的青春期，
自以为脱离了幼稚和盲目
走上了理性和成熟的大路之时，
我遭到了这样一种彻底的颠覆性打击。

我居然在我22岁之际，做了一件初中少女才会做的事。
我居然暗恋上了我的老师。

我从来没对自己感到过如此失望。
自以为是的骄傲原来是多么的幼稚可笑。
不过却陷在这种可耻的境地中感到新鲜有趣。
从心理学的角度来说，是一种自我界限的部分崩溃，导致了并不是真实的“爱”的“精神贯注”。
我对一个身高不足一米7，却潇洒从容而看起来十分风骚的男老师坠入遐想。
对于他在上课时对我的凝望而满怀欣喜。

而他在女性问题上的口碑又是出奇的糟糕。
所有的老师都在提醒我们，他很可怕很猥琐很风骚，不知道为什么那么多人喜欢他，让我们决不要透露手机之类的信息给他。
结果上课的时候他要求我们把手机 QQ MSN 邮箱地址全部写下来交上去。。。。
用其他老师的话说，这次不良居心真是天地可鉴了。

怎么办。
搁浅下来，静观其变？
这样的经历可真是难得，
难不成在青春的尾巴跟儿，
让我抓住了一撮儿骚臭的毛？

今天总体来说过的还是很开心的，所以非常诧异为什么想到要写日志。
一般情况下，我都是在特别郁闷无人倾诉的时候比较喜欢来到这里，
就好象小时侯听的一个故事上说的一个小男孩儿喜欢把不愉快的事情对一个树洞倾诉。
这座BLOG就是我的树洞。
自己一个人的生活的自由自在在今日方有些许体会。
比如可以躺在床上点个PIZZAHUT的宅急送啊，
比如可以在房间里抽个520啊，
比如可以不用怕被嘲笑的看看恶作剧之吻这种肥皂剧啊，
。。。
单身生活原来是这样。
这两天不知道为什么很开心。
也许是上课上的很HIGH，
也许是说出了一些憋在心里好多年的话，
或者是交了一些新朋友，
日子变的主动而充实。
而我渐渐习惯了这种改变。
珍惜这种改变。

离开了隆隆爆竹，离开了腾腾暖气，
居然真的义无返顾的回到南京来了。
不知道是自己长大了，还是真的是冲动的惩罚。
来了两天，才写下感受。

译海无涯，回头是岸。
这是句再精确不过的话。
今天上课上的很郁闷。
有个男人老师不论说什么他都知道。
什么谚语歇后语成语典故他妈的老师上面说中文他下面译成英文，说英文他接中文解释。
老师就兴致一来跟他飚起来了，俩人象说相声是的一来一往，记的我小宇宙最终爆发了。
我就说老师能不能慢点儿，不是所有人都知道。
妈妈的，人说一只臭鱼腥一锅汤，每想到一只霸王鱼的作用是一样的。
知之你就知之，妈妈的能不能低调一点！！！
结果知道那超级假LV霸王鱼居然是学数学的，他妈的变态！学数学的英语学成这样！

结果发现大家都是霸王鱼。。。但是我绝对不是臭鱼，我只是一只默默无问的小鱼。。。不敢承认自己是英语专业的小鱼。。。
老师在上面说“你们这个班是我带过的水准最高的班了呢”
我心想，贫富差距是很大地。你是没看到我。只看到了 那些先富起来的人。
今天的课讲的很快。
老师的嘴好象永动机一样叭叭叭叭叭叭。。。急的我恨不得他们吃了。
但是我要忍。。妈妈说的对，没准他们都考过好几百次了。。。我才是初出牛犊。。。
可也没这么刺激人的。。。
本来以为自己别的不行，要说口语么还算比较得意了，结果他妈的现在就好象一群宝马里的一辆现代。。。失落啊。
可是你们别得意，虽然是现代，可我小排量耗油低，你们就装牛逼吧。早晚金融风暴把你们。。。！ 我小康就行了。

自己一个人住酒店这个问题至今觉得怪怪的。。
很晚才能睡着，感觉就好象回到了去年这个时候在欧洲，自己和自己说话的日子。
每天7个半小时，把我对生活的所有幻想磨灭，然后回来做电视土豆。
本来今天应该初中同学聚会吧。
我觉悟到自己给自己找罪来了。
但是口译就像强奸，而且貌似还是我自愿，只能慢慢享受下去。
要做一个坚强而快乐的被强奸者，笑对人生！

我只是一个普通人，也会孤独，也会恐惧。
没有那么牛逼的STM，也没有办法做声速的NOTES-TAKING 
更没有5000的CORE VOCABULARY，甚至什么时候用AT 和IN 还会犹豫。
我从来没有这么挫败过。
灰头土脸。。。
肝脑涂地。。。
你在哪？

不知不觉又踱到这里来了。
看来 真的是闲下来了。
今天 考掉了最后一门，无所事事的躺在床上听着门外行李轮子滚过的声音，渐渐睡过去。什么不想，什么不听，就这样挺好。
好象一下被空虚的力量击垮，倒在那里 连吃饭的心情都没有。
怎么这么不开心呢，心想。
也许是因为没有做上回家的车吧。
记得前一阵子还信誓旦旦的说不要回家过年，要在这边攻读学习，
说的自己都觉得自己特别伟大，当时韦哥笑笑，说，等你看着大家都走了你还没走的时候你就不这么狂了。
他好象什么都像是过来人，说话又从来不留情面，说的我当时一口气恨不得真的不会家给他看。
总是这样，反而激发我的逆反心理。
是，我知道，为我为我。
刚才好死不如赖活着，妈妈突然打电话来，问我干吗呢，我说躺着呢。她说怎么躺着呢，我说没什么事干。
她说，呦，不学习啦？我强忍住，说，不想学了，想歇会儿。
我终于明白了我们的问题出在哪。
妈妈年轻的时候希望爸爸赚钱养家，赚钱养家后来希望爸爸赚钱她不用上班，她不用上班后来又希望有车有房，有车有房后来又希望有别墅有名车，有别墅有名车还希望我爸爸无比专一。怎么可能。
对于我呢，他们最初希望我能长过姥姥家的冰箱，长过姥姥家的冰箱后来希望我能进班级前十，进班级前十后来希望我提高能力，提高能力后来希望我好好学习，好好学习了后来希望我一刻不停的好好学习。同样的，怎么可能。
人都是贪婪的动物。有的时候并不是为了自己而贪婪。而是一种本能。
更准确的说，不应该叫贪婪，应该叫不节制。
好了，希望更好，希望达到最好，这方面最好了，还希望那方面最好。永永远远无穷尽也。
有一次，
妈妈问我，韦哥有什么好，他什么都没有，而且保不齐以后就会有。感情不可靠，根本经不起小小的柴米油烟。
我问她，你想要我过上什么样的生活？一个有钱人，一堆钞票，豪门公子，那不还是柴米油烟？
那是妈妈眼里的幸福。不是我眼里 的幸福。
我不想要什么别墅名车，什么山盟海誓，我想要两个人天天下班开小微型去买菜回家，一起煮饭，一起洗碗，一起看看电影，相拥入眠。不去想海市蜃楼，也不会担忧下顿饭的着落，甚至不用想着什么传宗接代。生气了会吵嘴，甚至会打架，但是不会有往娘家跑的概念。过年了把双方的老人接来，一起看春晚，一起守夜，一直在能够到牵手的距离。这幸福够具体么？
怎么还会有人心甘情愿的奋赴铜雀楼，前赴后继，乐此不疲。
我和韦哥说我这个梦想的时候韦哥说得了吧，就你的生活水平，这种生活满足不了你。
说我理想主义，说我站着说话不要疼，说我不懂生活的艰辛。
我都承认。
可是，为什么我就不该有这样的梦想。
为什么我的梦想就该是什么嫁入豪门，就该是什么女强人，就该是什么光宗耀祖的梦想？
我怎么长的和别人不一样吗？
我凭什么要胸怀大志呢？
我就是想要自己活的洒脱，妈妈爸爸身体健康。没了！
怎么就好象大逆不道了似的？！
是我理想主义，还是你们理想主义？