A Rose for Emily and the Feather Pillow

Damian Oronoz Mr. Lpez English 11 17 May 2010 A Rose for Emily & The Fetter Pillow Essay Hocus pocus in a dark castle, black cats over the graveyards, and two men writing gothic literature. Characteristics of gothic literature include ruined sinister buildings, dungeons, underground passages, crypts, and catacombs which in modern houses become spooky basements or attics. In “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner and “The Feather Pillow” by Horacio Quiroga, the authors use spooky setting, fantastic plot, grotesque characters and use of the supernatural as elements of gothic literatrure. Faulkner and Quiroga use setting as an element of Gothic Literature to foreshadow that somethings will happen because the setting is mysterious. This is seen in "A Rose for Emily" when Faulkner describes the house that was once beautiful but now is decaying, falling down, old, and huge. One example of this sad story is when it says, "It was a big, squarish frame house that had once been white, ... only miss Emily's house was left lifting its stubborn coquettish decay above the cotton wagons and the gasoline pumps"( Faulkner 218). The quote is an example of Gothic Literature because the author is describing the setting which is a huge, decaying house. The fact that Emily is left alone and rarely is seen by the town people. Also suggest that something is going on in the house. Thus is important because we can not really see what is going on and the time the time the story happens also helps the reader have an imagine. The use of this element is also seen in "The Feather Pillow" when Quiroga describes the huge, empty and cold house where you hear the echo pf your steps when you walk. In the story of "The Feather Pillow" says "the whiteness of the silent piano... the completely bare walls... the echo of his steps never berated throughout the house (Quiroga). The quote is an example of Gothic Literature because Quiroga is describing a scary setting that adds a suspenseful mood to the story and the reader can predict something will happen. The authors. Faulkner and Quiroga used the setting as a Gothic element to make the reader have a feeling and/ or unable to tell what is happening and create suspenseful mood. A setting like the houses on both Faulkner and Quiroga's story, can make it mysterious and unpredictable of what is going to happen. Faulkner and Quiroga use mystery as an element of Gothic Literature to get the reader's attention and create suspense. This is seen in "A Rose for Emily" when Faulkner describes that Homer disappeared, and no one ever saw him again and Emily was lonely seen. For example in the story said " A neighbor saw the Negro man admit him at the kitchen door at dusk one evening. And that was the last we saw of Homer Barron. " (Faulkner). This quote from the story causes mystery not only for the people but for the reader. It's scary because we do not know what happened with Homer until the end. This mystery let us wondering what happened to him. The use of this element is also seen in "The Feather Pillow" when Quiroga describes how the parasite was killing Alicia. For example in the story said "She has a great weakness that I am unable to explain. " (Quiroga). In this quote the author leave us in suspense and mystery of what is going on with Alicia. This creates that we start to speculate and have horrifying ideas. The two Gothic stories creates a suspenseful mood with the mystery is going on the stories. Also both stories talk about how women are suffering because at a man. Faulkner and Quiroga use women in distress as an element of Gothic Literature to explain how women can lose their mind or die because a man. This is seen in "A Rose for Emily" when Faulkner describes that Emily slept with the death body of Homer for about 40 years and. Faulkner tell us in his story that " The body had apparently once lain in the attitude of an embrace, but now the long sleep that outlasts love, that conquers even the grimace of love, had cuckolded him. What was left of him, rotted beneath what was left of the nightshirt, had become inextricable from the bed in which he lay; and upon him and upon the pillow beside him lay that even coating of the patient and biding dust. " (Faulkner). This is an example of a Gothic element being used because Emily had suffered of her father's dead, so when she met Homer she killed him, so he could never leave her. She never dated any one before because her father did not let her. So when she met Homer she got to attached to him that she did not Homer leave her. That is the reason Emily killed Homer. The use of this element is also seen in "The Feather Pillow" when Quiroga describes how Jordan never shows her feelings towards Alicia, so this made her go in depression. In the story it said "He for his part, loved her profoundly but never let it seen. " (Quiroga). Alicia compared herself to the sleeping beauty who could only be wake up with a kiss from her prince; and Alicia felt dead from inside because Jordan was cold and it seemed as if he did not care for Alicia. This quote make us think she was dying because of depression. Women in distress can do crazy things because of a man. They will kill or get sick because of them. Also in their stories they use grotesque as an element. Faulkner and Quiroga use grotesque as an element of Gothic Literature to give us an idea of the images of the story and to grabs the reader's attention. This is seen in "A Rose for Emily" when Faulkner describes how Emily slept with Homer's dead body for 40 years and how their pillows were yellow and moldy. The author tell us that in the story where it says "The man himself lay in the bed... upon him and upon the pillow beside him lay that even coating of the patient and biding dust. 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. " (Faulkner). This shows how the quote is an example of a Gothic literature because it grabs the reader's attention. It also gets the reader in a gross mood. Also it get the readers to get an idea. The use of this element is also seen in "The Feather Pillow" when Quiroga describes how the creature was sucking Alicia's blood and how he creature grew fat. This is when it said "Jordan picked it up; it was extraordinarily heavy... The top feathers floated away, and the servant, her mouth opened wide, gave a scream of horror and covered her face with clenched fists: in the bottom of the pillow case, among the feathers, slowly moving its hairy legs, was a monstrous animal, a living, viscous ball. " (Quiroga). This is an example of a Gothic literature because it describe how grotesque the creature was. It gives the reader a disturbing mood and the story becomes more suspenseful. The two Gothic stories use a grotesque mood. Gothic Literatures used a lot of this elements in their stories, this creates fear and terror to the readers. The authors from " A Rose for Emily" and "The Feather Pillow" used elements of Gothic literature to bring suspense to the reader. the authors used setting, mystery, women in distress, and grotesque as Gothic Elements in order to create terror and suspense in their stories. These Gothic elements are important because they make the reader want to read more and be interested and also it helps us foreshadow what is going to happen and have an image of how everything is exactly happening. We can use these Gothic elements in society today when people kill other and things like that.

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