Thursday, October 29, 2009

A Rose for Emily









www.newcastle.nsw.gov.au/nag/exhibitions/past
Tom Roberts Roses (1888) 51.4 x 76.9 oil on canvas on plywood
gift of Mr J.O. Manton 1972
[photo used for educational purposes only]

I chose this photo to illustrate the overall theme of William Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily". These roses, like Miss Emily Grierson, were once stately and proud. Time, and perhaps neglect, has diminished not only their beauty but also their noble stature. The roses pictured here have nearly reached their end and while still beautiful, they lack luster and strength to hold themselves together or even to stand upright. They remind me of the aged Miss Emily who fought to remain proud and strong to the very end of her life. As Faulkner writes in his story, Miss Emily had "a vague resemblance to those angles in colored church windows - sort of tragic and serene". The feeling I get when viewing this artwork is that the roses, wilting and dying are also sort of tragic and serene.





1 comment:

  1. The plywood is hopefully a coffin movement. The story must live again and again as the trend catches on with regular folks and who will pledge the thousands of dollars difference in cost to a worthy charity.The warden had the inmates construct simple plywood coffins for themselves and others who could not afford to purchase them. convicted murderer Richard Liggett was asked to make two of the simple plywood coffins he meticulously crafted for fellow prisoners.According to this blog there have good information about playwood .
    Thanks & Regards
    Plywood

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