If we compare William Faulkner’s two short stories, “A Rose for Emily” and “Barn Burning“, he structures the plots of these two stories differently. However, both of the stories note the effect of a father’s teaching, and in both the protagonists Miss Emily and Sarty make their own decisions about their lives. The stories present major idea through symbolism that includes strong metaphorical meaning. Both stories affect my thinking of life. Both “A Rose for Emily” and “Barn Burning” address the influence of a father, and the protagonists of both stories make their own decisions. Miss Emily Grierson is a lonely old woman, living a life void of all love and affection and who is violated by her father‘s strict mentality. Throughout the life of Emily Grierson, she remains locked up, never experiencing love from anyone but her father. She lives a life of loneliness, left only to dream of the love missing from her life. The domineering attitude of Emily's father keeps her to himself, inside the house, and alone until his death. In his own way, Emily's father shows her how to love. Through a forced obligation to love only him, as he drives off young male callers, he teaches his daughter lessons of love. It is this dysfunctional love that resurfaces later, because it is the only way Emily knows how to love. Her father who prevents her from dating with any young man until she is thirty. Her father’s deed enhances her thirst for love and security. After her father died, she finally has the freedom of love. Like her father though, Miss Emily possesses a stubborn outlook towards life, she refuses to change and let go. The event of her father’s death is a shock to Miss Emily because the guidance of her father is gone. This explains Miss Emily’s behavior after her father’s death as well as her reaction to another character Homer Barron. Homer B...
