[Name of the Writer]

[Name of Instructor]

[Subject]

[Date]

"A Rose for Emily" Historical Context: Reconstruction

Introduction

A Rose for Emily is a short story written by William Faulkner. It is based on the post reconstruction south and explores the dark corners prevailing the southern society after the civil war. Moreover, “A Rose for Emily” serves as a modern allegory about the South in a way that Faulkner experienced it. In his story, Faulkner argues that the South was a dilapidated society that sustains itself with mere illusions, cruelty, and injustice, and then attempts to defend itself from the revelation of that fact through an elaborate sacrificial mechanism of contained, ritualized violence. (Foucault, Michel. 2003)

This research paper embarks not only upon the period of reconstruction in the south and its effects, but also aims to explore the attitudes of its inhabitants; especially towards the North, in turn analyzing how the carpet baggers manipulatively tried to make use of the distressful situation prevailing the South. Additionally, it also attempts to compare the period of when the Faulkner's story “A Rose for Emily” took place and compares it with the era of the Reconstruction. (Foucault, Michel. 2003)

The period of reconstruction

After the cold, bloody and divisive American civil war ended in 1865, the people of United States worked in order to their country back together. This period is known as the reconstruction. However, due to the various different opposing opinions surfacing at that time on how the reconstruction should be accomplished as a lot was on stake, hence all this led to tremendous amount of conflict between not only between the various different groups in the South but also amongst the different branches of and political factions in the federal government, and between the federal government and the states of the former Confederacy. Moreover the value of the money in the south also depreciated a great deal, along with the towns, farms and industries which were almost destroyed.

However, as far as the South was concerned, the battle was chiefly between the Planters which were although a minority but dominated the South not only economically but also both socially and politically and the Freedmen who were twice as much as the Freedmen and sought both political and legal equality in the land. Apart from this, the South was also a home to a small number of independent white farmers known as the white yeomen. These white yeomen expressed no interest in ...