Change in A Rose For Emily and Shiloh Essay

A Shiloh For Rose

Change greets the main female characters in the short stories Shiloh and A Rose For Emily and it's indomitable presence results in a common theme. The two women find themselves reacting to the change in their lives with different approaches, but with a common sternness.

The character of Emily Grierson in A Rose For Emily is a secluded denier to the change that has come to her small southern town. Her first encounter with change comes after the death of her dominating father. She resists giving up his dead body, frightened by the absence of his control that has kept change from entering her life. Later in the story roles reverse when Emily meets and falls in love with a charming northerner named Homer Barron. Homer represents the modernity and industrialization that Emily is eager to avoid. Unfortunately for Emily it seems he is not the marrying type. At last after entering Emily's house he is not seen again. The townsfolk assume Homer has finally left Emily and she retreats into seclusion. Many years later and after her death the townspeople enter Emily's house, discovering the corpse of Homer. Fearing abandonment it seems Emily murdered Homer and preserved his presence in her life. Freezing the change that threatened her way of life in an everlasting embrace.

Change for Norma Jean in Shiloh also reveals itself in the form of a lover. Her husband, Leroy, returns home for good after years of working on the road. Injured and out of work Leroy lingers around the house. His constant presence is the change in Norma's life. When Leroy worked for long stretches on the road, Norma performed a traditional housewife role by cooking for him and attending to him when he returned home. Once he returns home for good, her chores as his wife begin to grow tiresome and in response to this she begins to change herself. She works out and attends night courses. She assumes the role of the bread winner. In the final scene of the story Norma announces her desire to end the relationship with her husband. At this moment Norma changes from a housewife stuck in limbo, to an independent woman. Like Emily, Norma reacts decisively when change arrives. Unlike Emily, Norma chooses to be alone.

Change is the way of things for the women of Shiloh and A Rose For Emily. Change flows through their lives as a current propelled by the will of time and random misfortune. Whether resisting change's unyielding presence or improving in the path of change's steady march, both women take control of their own fate.