A rose for Emily and A Bride Comes to Yellow Sky

The stories, “A Rose for Emily” and “A Bride Comes to Yellow Sky” which were written by William Faulkner’s and Stephen Crane respectively, give an insight into two worlds where the sense of change and stagnation has a great conflict. This essay focuses to compare and contrast the elements identified in support of this theme.
In ‘A rose for Emily’, Emily shows up as a character who does not accept change. She refuses to accept the fact that her father has died. She doesn’t accept anyone into her house except the servant. At a given time, she is given a notice to pay her tax, which she refuses to accept with an excuse that the city is indebted to her father (Fisher and Silber, 10). When the elder men advised her to pay taxes, she tells them to see Colonels Sartoris, and reminded them that she does not have any taxes in Jefferson. This shows her unwillingness to pay the taxes. In contrast, in Stephen Crane’s “A Bride Comes to Yellow Sky” Jack is depicted as a dynamic character as he proceeds to made embrace changes in his life. For example, he accepts to marry a lady from San Antonio, without even consulting anyone from his community. Marriage is a great stride in every man`s life. He depicts how marriage is an important aspect in his community. For example, the author stipulates how Jack would be received with a band, cheered, congratulated, and escorted by the community members. In addition, he allowed his newly married wife to wear in a new fashion. (a blue cashmere dress), rather than the obvious old fashion (white dress) (Crane, 17-19).

In William Faulkner’s ‘A rose for Emily’, the narrator uses first person and a plural point of view to describe the events of the story. This is used to show personal experiences regarding the events that occurred. For instance the narrator says, “We should do something about this. I never wish to bother Emily, but we should do something on this”(Faulkner and Inge 13).This came as a result of Emily’s behaviors and the people decided they had to act on since many were bothered by her actions. In contrast, in the Stephen Crane’s “A Bride Comes to Yellow Sky” the narrator uses the third person perspective to describe the events of the story. This shows that the narrator did not take part in the events, but oversaw the events at a distance. For instance, the narrator says, “she continued to twist her head so that she could regard her sleeves straight, stiff and” (Crane, 23). This describes the actions of the bride during the wedding event.

In William Faulkner’s “A rose for Emily” and In Stephen Crane’s “A Bride Comes to Yellow Sky’, the narrators identify a number of things that can be compared. In A “Rose for Emily”, the house is likened to the yellow sky in “A Bride Comes to Yellow Sky” since it was preserved even after the demise of Emily`s father. For example, Faulkner stipulated that, “When she lost her father, it is just the house that she was left with and people were happy about this” (Faulkner and Inge 34). The house is described throughout the story and it remains up to the time she dies. Similarly, in the book, “A Bride Comes to Yellow Sky”, the Yellow Sky community maintained and liked marriage customs for years. For example, the narrator depicts that “The people living in Yellow Sky could marry as they pleased, as their custom was (Crane, 47).

In conclusion, it can be noted that there are some people in the two scenarios who openly resist change unlike others who embrace it. Emily is depicted as one who doesn’t accept change when Jack is clearly embracing and enjoying it. The two stories give a clear view of these events as discussed with different points of perspective.

Works Cited
Crane, Stephen. Great Short Works Of Stephen Crane. New York: Perennial Classics, 2004. Print.
Fisher, Jerilyn and Ellen S Silber.Women In Literature. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2003. Print.
Faulkner, William, and M. Thomas Inge.A Rose For Emily. [Columbus, Ohio]: Merrill, 1970. Print.