Abstract

William Faulkner（1897-1962), the image of southern writers, creates a lot of excellent works shaping the image of the South in America. In April, 1930, Faulkner published his short story “A Rose for Emily”. This short story is memorable not only for its good plot, gothic style and characters, but more importantly its classic description of the image of the South. Therefor, this thesis will analyze on the image of the South created in the story from three aspects: The first one is environment, the traditional plantation environment where Miss Emily lives versus the modern environment where Jefferson town is experiencing; the second one are characters like Miss Emily, Homer and other residents in the town and their ambivalent character will also be analysis-ed in this thesis; the last one is tradition including the birth of democratic concept and the resistance of discrimination. To conclude, this thesis will make us have a better understanding about the image of the South and how it changes in the process of building a new south.

Key words : the image of the South; environment; democracy

Contents

Abstract

摘要

1.Introduction1

1.1 William Faulkner and the South ...1

1.2 The story as a mirror of the South2

2. The Traditional House vs the Modern Industries 3

2.1 The old house Emily Grierson lives3

2.2 The country influenced by northern civilization.4

3. The Past vs the Present..5

3.1 Emily--defender of the old South. 6

3.2 Other residents in the town--builders of the new South ..8

4. Democracy vs Discrimination.9

4.1 The birth of democratic concept..9

4.2 The resistance of discrimination....10

5. Conclusion.10

References.12