Homework answers / question archive / Despite the differences between the short stories of "A Good Man Is Hard to Find" and "A Rose for Emily," Flannery O'Conner and William Faulkner have done a great job expressing their southern writing through a genre of Southern Gothic

Despite the differences between the short stories of "A Good Man Is Hard to Find" and "A Rose for Emily," Flannery O'Conner and William Faulkner have done a great job expressing their southern writing through a genre of Southern Gothic

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Despite the differences between the short stories of "A Good Man Is Hard to Find" and "A Rose for Emily," Flannery O'Conner and William Faulkner have done a great job expressing their southern writing through a genre of Southern Gothic. Through the two characters of The Grandmother and Emily, the audience is provided with an insight into Southern culture that is displayed in their own individualistic ways. These two amazing authors provide strong elements of incorporating the Deep South through their characters. Both stories are found to be horrific in their own way, with having a reoccurring theme of unexpected death. The Grandmother and Emily express similar notions about those in social classes higher than theirs. In the short stories of "A Good Man Is Hard to Find" by Flannery O'Conner and "A Rose for Emily" by William Faulkner, both authors express many similarities through the strong personalities of the character The Grandmother and Emily along with other elements of reoccurring themes, plot, and irony. Being Southern gothic authors as expressed in the genre of these short stories along with previous work of authors Flannery O'Conner and William Faulkner, the reoccurring theme of social expectations and social norms are portrayed through the characters of the stories. With an apparent role of gender in both short stories, the audience gets an insight into the class system provided through the Grandmother and Emily in different perfectives. From the point of view of Faulkner's short story "A Rose for Emily," through the character of Emily, there is a clear role of men being superior to women as a woman are "beneath" men and should be treated less than. The role of a woman being inferior to men is present from the very beginning of the story; Faulkner portrays his thoughts about women, including their only value being looks and appearance while men have respect and honor. Emily grows up in the South, where the class structure was based on how a person gets treated, and due to being born to a father who was well respected in town, Emily was born into the upper class in which she was treated with respect. As the role of women in her society, Emily always wanted to get married and have the opportunity to be a wife one day but due to the class system in her society, marring Homer Barron was against the system. Due to the conflict she faced with her community and fellow townspeople, Emily was not able to fulfill her role of being a wife, and this eventually led her to collapse with her mental health and withhold her from getting the medical help she needs. Shown through Emily's experiences, the class system takes a toll on her life, and the same goes for the Grandmother in "A Good Man Is Hard to Find." Though there is a reoccurring theme between both short stories, the Grandmother shows a different side of the social class system. From the title of the short story "A Good Man Is Hard to Find," the audience is able to pinpoint the gender roles portrayed, including that man can be unworthy or hard to trust. Saying that a good man is hard to find, this also indicated that as a woman, an individual needs to have a man in their life and, in a sense, are dependent on them. The Grandmother comes from a family of higher class and gives no sympathy for those beneath her. Having great respect for herself and expecting the same from others, the Grandmother believes she is superior to all. True colors are shown when the Grandmothers continuously criticizes those around her. As shown through the plot of Emily's story, the role of a man and the role of a woman are very similar. Both having very different stories; Emily and the Grandmother have many similarities not only in class but also in characteristics. Flannery O'Conner and William Faulkner portray various similarities through the main character of both stories starting off with both of them being women. Both women come from a privileged background and ironically foreshadow future deaths. Emily and The Grandmother are both very stubborn characters, individuals who both are set to get what they want when they want it. The Grandmother, along with many other negative characteristics such as her passive judgment, is very stubborn. During the road trip with her family, the Grandmother was convinced that she wants to go to Tennessee and indirectly tries to convince her son by making up excuses to her benefit. Having a hard time coping with change, The Grandmother uses manipulation to try to get her way. Being the only person she had, when Emily lost her father, she lost all other connections she had to society, leaving her to be very lonely. With time Emily's built-up of her loneliness led her to become very stubborn like The Grandmother. Her stubbornness is shown through several instances, for example, refusing to pay her taxes because of her family's status or in the incident with herself and Homer Barron having a drastic gap in social status, yet she continued to see him. Emily has a hard time facing reality and wants things to go her way even when her house had a bad stench from Homer's dead body, and she continued to live in her individualistic fantasy of what she sees as real. Having various common characteristics, both The Grandmother and Emily follow their own moral code; their similarities continue into the controversy of their actions relating to their social class. Though expressing themselves differently, these characters are both effects by the way they think in all forms, including their actions and how they perceive others. Experiencing the influence of Sothern culture through The Grandmother and Emily, these two characters are both prejudices as the topic of racism is dominantly shown in both short stories. The Grandmother and Emily give the audience an insight into how the world use to be during that era through the lens of two separate women. Aside from having things not go their way, the two women are very dominant about getting what they want and have a difficult time coping with change or anything that is not in their reality. O'Conner and Faulkner did an amazing job at introducing two Southern Gothic short stories through the presentation of character descriptions and perception. Flannery O'Conner, through "A Good Man Is Hard to Find" and William Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily," create respectful stories with many connections through the protagonists of The Grandmother and Emily sharing similar character traits along with theme, plot, and themes.