Two different stories with two different characters. This essay is devoted to comparing and contrasting two characters from two short stories. The first short story was written by William Faulkner in 1930 – “A rose for Emily”. The second short story is called “The jilting of Granny Weatherall” by Katherine Anne Porter in the same year.
It is remarkable that, although the characters may seem have something in common, they are different. The short stories are about the death. However, Granny died surrounded by her children and the doctor, whereas Miss Emily died alone. Granny had a family, a husband, children and a beautiful house. On the contrary, Miss Emily had only a house and a dead ‘husband’ Homer. Nobody liked her in the town. The difference between the characters is in their character as well. While reading the short stories, one cannot help noticing that Granny was a kind hearted woman who was striving to do her best to help her children. On the contrary, Miss Emily was a lonely person who had nobody but an old Negro servant. Moreover, Miss Emily was not willing to communicate with anyone. Miss Emily died alone.
The characters are different and, at the same time, they are so alike. In my opinion, both authors wanted to show that all people are even before the death. Regardless, whether a person is rich or poor, has a big family or only a Negro servant, is friendly to everyone or avoids people; it does not matter Miss Emily or Granny – everybody dies.
Resources:
Faulkner W. (n.d.) “A rose for Emily” retrieved from http://xroads.virginia.edu/~drbr/wf_rose.html
Porter K A (n.d.) “The jilting of granny Weatherall” retrieved from http://www.qcc.mass.edu/booth/255/files/Porter-Jilting.pdf
