Problems of the Past Essay

Usually, when ones yesteryear problems are pushed away and neglected, they grow in size until they are too much to handle. The dickens short stories The bather by John Cheever and A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner portrays how a reluctance to accept or allow go of ones departed give nonice lead to many problems and difficulties. This is evinced through the development and actions of the characters, Neddy and Emily, the aspects of southern life and American suburban area, and the irony and structure of the plots. Throughout their lives, Neddy and Emily inevitably experience revision condescension their attempts to disregard and ignore it.The actions and characteristics of Neddy and Emily illustrate and give insight about their yesteryear, their crutches, and the archetypal change they ultimately face. The American suburbia and Southern town that Neddy and Emily reside in directly symbolizes their problems, emphasizes the changes they face, and possible sources that fuel their reluctance to let go of their past. The irony, structure and conflict of the plots illustrates the futility of Neddy and Emilys reluctance to accept and let go of their past, the general suffering of their problems, and other sources that fuel their problems.The actions and personality of people can give insight about their life. Firstly, Neddy and Emilys characteristics and actions illustrate their problems and past. For example, in The Swimmer, after Neddy visits the Hallorans pool and Mrs. Halloran expresses her condolence towards Neddys misfortunes, Neddy says My misfortunes? () I dont know what you mean (25). The fact that Neddy seems unaware of his problems shows how Neddy is reluctant to accept his past, so much so that it made him suffer grip on his life. Similarly, Emily, after her initiates death, becomes secretive and people hardly see her at all (12).This shows how Emily clings to her past because she dies all her time confined in her house, avoiding the pres ent. Additionally, when the next generation, with its more modern ideas, became mayors and aldermen, Emily refuses to pay taxes and says, I have no taxes in Jefferson (12). This emphasizes how she does not want to change from her past ways and conform to the naked ideas of the town. Secondly, Neddy and Emilys characteristics and actions illustrate the crutches that they use to forget or hold on to their past.For example, in The Swimmer, Neddy swallows a lot of alcohol and naturally accepts it from numerous houses he visits. This shows how he cannot cope with reality and his past so he uses a crutch, in this case alcohol, to make him wash away his reality and forget his underlying problems. Moreover, when Neddy decides to blow across the county, it shows how he is possibly using the idea as a way to keep his mind off his past. Likewise, in A Rose for Emily, Emily keeps her fathers body for three days after he dies (13). This reveals Emilys desire to control another and her refusal to accept the fact of death.Her desire to control is her crutch and it shows how she does not want to let go of her past since her father, before he died, controlled her, so she had to cling to that which had robbed her (14). Lastly, the actions and personalities of Neddy and Emily signify the archetypal change that they ultimately face. For example, in The Swimmer, after finish his journey, Neddy cries for () probably the first time in his adult life (27). When compared to Neddys first description of being very happy, youthful, with nothing confining in his life, it emphasizes the change that Neddy faces scorn his attempts to avoid it (21).In contrast, in A Rose for Emily, Emily does not go through any change as she stays confined in her house, with the further sign of life about the place being the Negro man ()going in and out with a market basket (12). Her lack of change as a person while the newer generation became the backbone and the spirit of the town, illustrates her dis like towards change as a whole (16). This also emphasizes her reluctance to let go of her past because it would involve change, which she clearly loathes.Ultimately, the characters actions and personalities create irony because their problems are expressed through them, despite their efforts to forget about it. The setting one resides in could be a factor that influences ones actions and characteristics. The setting that one resides in can give insight about their way of life. Firstly, the American suburbia and Southern town that Neddy and Emily reside in directly symbolizes their problems. For example, the setting in The Swimmer is illustrated to be an American suburbia full of wealthy and privileged adults who spend all their time drinking and having parties.This is symbolic of Neddy who considers himself energetic and having especial slenderness of youth with very few problems (21). However, just like the suburbia, under Neddys ostensible happiness and bloated comfort lie growin g family and economic problems. Similarly, A Rose for Emily portrays the setting to be a southern town with ignorant views and rumours. This is representative of Emilys ignorance towards change because despite many messages from the mayor and sheriff asking for change, Emily would not listen to them (16).Secondly, the societies and settings that Neddy and Emily are in emphasize the possible sources that fuel their reluctance to let go or hold on to their past. For example, the clubhouse in The Swimmer makes Neddy act like everyone else where people have parties, fun, and are honored to give Neddy a drink (26). This illustrates how Neddys problem with accepting his past could have rooted from his towns night club where he is expected to live in apparent happiness. Similarly, the society that Emily is in expects her to act like others, like when Emily is expected to marry someone.This shows how Emilys necromania and use of her fathers haughty ways was caused by the society because she was expected to marry someone, but since Homer was not a marrying man, she killed him so she could be with him and be in control (15). Lastly, the settings that Neddy and Emily reside in emphasize the changes they face. For example, in The Swimmer, as Neddy begins his journey and is unaware of his problems, the setting is described as a midsummer Sunday where everything seems peaceful and perfect (15). As Neddy continues his journey and his problems and past begin to dawn on him, the weather changes and a thunderstorm occurs.By the end, the place is dark and gloomy and Neddy is hit with the full realization of his problems (28). This pathetic phantasm is symbolic of the change that Neddy goes through because the setting and weather are directly connected to his emotions, changing depending on how he feels. Similarly, in A Rose for Emily, as the town changes constantly, Emilys house stays, lifting its stubborn and coquettish decay (11). The fact that her house is described to b e stubborn and decaying is symbolic of Emily, who is also stubborn towards change and is decaying metaphorically, as she lives in her past, confined from the outside world.Ultimately, it is shown that the setting one resides in can heavily influence the decisions and choices one makes. The setting of a story is near linked to the plot as it has influence on it. The plot of a story connects the characters and settings to the problems and difficulties at hand. Firstly, the irony of the plots illustrates the futility of Neddy and Emilys reluctance to accept and let go of their past. For example, The Swimmer is ironic because Neddy drinks alcohol in order to forget about his past but it ends up sharpening his unhappiness and problems.The irony emphasizes how Neddys attempt at forgetting his past is pointless and futile because it ends up coming back to him. Likewise, A Rose for Emily is ironic because Emily buys arsenic and the town thinks, she will kill herself with it, but Emily ends up using it to poison Homer (15). This shows how Emily did not chose death as a way out of her past but succumbed to her fathers controlling ways. She resorted to necrophilia in order to control Homer, emphasizing how her reluctance to let go of her past is useless because in reality, she can never go back to her past. both she can do is pretend to still be in the past by dwelling on her fathers old ways. Secondly, the structure of the plots emphasizes the overall damage that Neddy and Emily face. For example, The Swimmer ends with Neddy looking at his abandoned and broken down house. The fact that there is no falling action shows how Neddys disregard for his past upscale his problems to the point of no return. In contrast, A Rose for Emily does not follow a regular beginning to conclusion structure since it begins with Emilys death.The non-chronological and paranormal structure is symbolic of how Emily, who was once considered tradition, a duty, and a care, had succumbed to eccen tric and unnatural ways (11). Lastly, the conflict of the plots illustrates additional sources that fuel Neddy and Emilys problems. For instance, The Swimmer portrays the rudimentary conflict to be person vs. himself since Neddy always needs a drink, showing how he cannot control his urge (26). This emphasizes how his problems are deeply rooted in his inebriety and are simply not from his family and economic problems.In contrast, the main conflict in A Rose for Emily is person vs. erson since Emilys father was possessive and controlling of Emily. The town remembers all the young men Emilys father had driven away illustrating how he kept Emily isolated from the community (14). This shows how Emilys eccentric ways and hate towards change stemmed and rooted from her father because of the way he treated her. Since he controlled her so much, Emily had no choice but to cling on to the past when he died because it was the only thing she was used to. Ultimately, the plot emphasizes how Ne ddy and Emily created more problems than they started out with by not letting go or accepting their past.In conclusion, the two short stories The Swimmer by John Cheever and A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner emphasize, through the development and actions of the characters, the aspects of the settings, and the structure and irony of the plot, how a reluctance to accept or let go of ones past can lead to many complications and difficulties. Ultimately, when people with underlying problems reside in a society, whose views and traditions tempts them to forget or cling on to their past, end up losing their grip on reality and ruining their lives.