When comparing and contrasting William Faulkners classics we may compare the writing style or even the stories all together. Theme is a major contribution to a writers story and may take time to accumulate a story within a theme. William Faulkner is best known for being the most influential writers of the twentieth century; Faulkner wrote many short stories including, A Rose for Emily, and That Evening Sun.
A Rose for Emily was an allegorical title; the meaning was, here was a woman who has had a tragedy, an irrevocable tragedy and nothing could be done about it, and I pitied her and this was a salute ... to a woman you would hand a rose, Faulkner stated. Family is an important part about life and Emily had no family and would not let anyone leave her again. A peculiar hermit, Emily is a mysterious figure who changes from an animated and hopeful young girl to a sheltered and secretive old woman. Overwhelmed and alone after her fathers death, she is an object of pity for the townspeople. After a life of having likely husbands rejected by her father, she spends time after his death with Homer Barron, although the chances of his marrying her decline as the years pass, she ultimately poisons Homer and seals his corpse into an upstairs room where she would sleep with him during death.
That Evening Sun, the title is taken from a blues song by William Christopher Handy which Falkner was given ideas for a new short story. Nancy is the main character in this story; a house maid struggling with the fear of life. Nancy cooks and cleans for the family while Disley is sick and cannot perform these tasks. Jesus is her husband and she is very much afraid that he will kill her because she is pregnant by another man. She roams around scared to death and taking everything the wrong way; when the owners ask her to do something she replies with, I aint a nigger.
During The Evening Sun the characters' differing use of the word "nigger" draws attention to the gap between the social classes, and races. Nancy's hopeless repetition of, "I ain't nothing but a nigger," points out her understanding that her fate is ultimately not in her own hands, since she is kept down in society by her race. For A Rose for Emily At this point, we've already been given a rough outline of Emily's life, beginning with her funeral, going back ten years to when the "newer generation" came to collect the taxes. Other than the painting lessons, her life during that time is a mystery, because she stayed inside. After Emilys death the townspeople entered the house to find Homers rotted body in a bed.
In conclusion, A Rose for Emily and The Evening Sun have very different families and characters. One similarity with these two stories is that Nancy tries to kill herself while Rose killed Homer. Family ties everyone together while in these stories somehow broke them apart. True love is family, even when you poison them and have their rotted body next to you in bed.
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