Quote:
"...and the very old men -some in thier brushed Confederate uniforms- on the porch and the lawn, talking of Miss Emily as if she had been a contemporary of theirs, believing that they had danced with her and courted her perhaps, confusing time with its mathematical progression, as the old do, to whom all the past is not a diminishing road but, instead, a huge meadow which no winter ever quite touches, divided from them now by the narrow bottleneck of the most recent decade of years." (Faulkner; p. 34)
Response:
Upon reading this story, the passage quoted above really stood out as a textbook charactaristic reaction to death. While the entire town actively engaged in critically tearing down the reputation of poor Miss Emily in life, upon her death it was as if they were ashamed and perhaps fearful to continue the caddy soiling remarks. The people of the town of Jefferson did not want to appear unsightly in any manner, so they dressed in their finest clothing and began "pretending" (if you will) that Miss Emily meant more to them than truth be told. Did they wish to smooth over any premise of public collective guilt over the way they treated her in life? Was this their way of unburdoning themselves from shame as they realized the advancing approach of their own twilight?
The words that I find to be poignant are Faulkner's description of perception of the past, painting it as a "...huge meadow, which no winter ever touches,..." As people get older, they have a tendency to often see the past through rose-colored glasses in order to perhaps erase or gloss over any semblance of unrepented guilt.
Why is it that while a person is living they can be a horrid and lowly creature by reputation, but upon thier death they must be hailed and revered for the finest of human qualities, which they never appeared to have possession of in the first place while alive?
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2 comments:
Lisa,
I enjoyed your blog comments on this subject!
I agree that people are often less than savory in life but are celebrated in death. It's often evident at funerals. The community often has criticized the individual while living, but show up to the funeral to "pay respects". I often wonder if it's because they want to be seen, not because of the person being honored. My thoughts on my own funeral are that if they didn't like me when I was alive, I don't want them around when I'm dead!
Thanks again for the post!
Tonya
Hi, again, Lisa. This is one of my favorite passages from Faulkner's story. I like particularly the image of the bottleneck to describe the experience of time. I like your question about "public collective guilt" and think that the use of the first-person plural narrator "we" (instead of "I") suggests some kind of group responsibility. Nancy
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