The stories under analysis are considered to be masterpieces of 20th century literature, though both of them are very special. So the aim of this essay is to compare the themes and writing styles of the works by Sandra Cisneros and William Faulkner.
What makes this stories alike is that they are about âthe inability of love and compassion to reach those to whom it is proffered” (Abcarian, 2005, 152). The House on Mango Street and A Rose for Emily are about tragic womenâs fate. The main characters of the stories, though absolutely different in their ages, appearances and lifestyles, failed to find love and understanding in their lives. This lack of understanding makes both Esperanza and Emily live in the worlds of their own.
The techniques of the authors are very different from conventional, and this is the feature that unites them.
The House on Mango Street is a work of fiction, but the author breaks the conventional rules of form and plot. It composes a series of vignettes, each of which is a descriptive scene or a sketch. A vignette cannot be called a story because it doesnât have a distinct plot. In these scenes the character is important. When these vignettes come together, the life of a young girl is revealed.
The reader gets to know about Esperanza, the main character and the narrator, and about her cultural surroundings.
The House on mango Street covers a period of one year in a life of a twelve year old girl. The house she and her family live in is situated in the centre of a Latino neighborhood. There are many poor areas in the city; most of them are racially segregated. The novel describes how Esperanza grows physically and emotionally. There are also scenes depicting the life of her neighbors.
In the city Esperanza soon makes friends with Sally, who uses boys in her attempt escape from her evil father. Mainly because of this friendship Esperanza is eventually assaulted by local boys. The story is filled with the girlâs traumatic experiences. The observations of the other women in the neighborhood add up to the feeling of disillusionment.
The plot of the next story is tragic too. The reader is invited to Miss Emilyâs strange and frightening world.
âA Rose for Emilyâ tells the reader one of many stories which take part in the fictional county seat Jefferson which is situated in Mississippi. This place is a critical setting in many of Faulknerâs works. Though the work is not big in volume, many themes are revealed in it, such as relations between North and South, the nature of time, tragedy of spinsters.
As opposed to The House on Mango Street, the third-person narration is used. The reader knows neither his /her name nor his /her age. The narrative point of view and intricately complex chronology make the story unique. The narrator uses the word âweâ, which creates a feeling that he is speaking for the whole town. This technique suggests the idea of a gossipy nature of a town, where everyone knows everyone.
The plot is rather simple but scary. Emily Grierson, an eccentric spinster, has odd relationships with her lover, a Yankee, Homer Barron, and her father. After Homer disappears from the city, everybody thinks that he has returned north. Emily seldom leaves her house. In the end of the story the reader understands what the cause of the dreadful stench which emitted from her house was. She had been sleeping with her loverâs corps for 40 years.
Faulkner masterly experiments with time, the narration shifts from the very end of the story, the funeral, back to the past.
In conclusion I would like to say that these authors use very special literary devices which make their styles unique. Cisneros and Faulkner masterly penetrate into the psychics of their characters. Their women struggle to reach love in unresponsive world. Though their ways to do it are absolutely different, neither of them finds understanding and sympathy.
References
Abcarian, R. & Klotz, M. (2005). Literature: The Human Experience (9th ed.). Bedford/St.Martin’s.