Problems of the Past Essay

Usu all toldy, when one and only(a)s late(prenominal) problems atomic number 18 pushed a port and neglected, they grow in size until they are too much to handle. The two short stories The natator by John Cheever and A lift for Emily by William Faulkner portrays how a vacillation to live with or permit go of ones historical can lead to many problems and difficulties. This is emphasized through the development and actions of the characters, Neddy and Emily, the aspects of Confederate life and American suburbia, and the caustic remark and complex body part of the plots. Throughout their lives, Neddy and Emily inevitably possess change condescension their attempts to disregard and ignore it.The actions and characteristics of Neddy and Emily represent and strive sharpness about their one-time(prenominal), their crutches, and the archetypal change they ultimately face. The American suburbia and southern town that Neddy and Emily reside in directly symbolizes their problem s, emphasizes the changes they face, and possible sources that fuel their disinclination to let go of their past tense. The irony, structure and encroach of the plots illustrates the futility of Neddy and Emilys hesitance to accept and let go of their past, the overall damage of their problems, and other sources that fuel their problems.The actions and record of state can give insight about their life. Firstly, Neddy and Emilys characteristics and actions illustrate their problems and past. For example, in The Swimmer, after Neddy visits the Hallorans pool and Mrs. Halloran expresses her condolence towards Neddys misfortunes, Neddy says My misfortunes? () I dont know what you mean (25). The fact that Neddy seems unaware of his problems shows how Neddy is unwilling to accept his past, so much so that it made him lose catch on his life. Similarly, Emily, after her sustains death, becomes secretive and people scantily see her at all (12).This shows how Emily stick tos to her past because she spends all her time confined in her house, avoiding the present. Additionally, when the next generation, with its more modern ideas, became mayors and aldermen, Emily refuses to pay taxes and says, I have no taxes in Jefferson (12). This emphasizes how she does non want to change from her past ways and line up to the new ideas of the town. Secondly, Neddy and Emilys characteristics and actions illustrate the crutches that they use to allow or lead on to their past.For example, in The Swimmer, Neddy drinks a lot of alcohol and naturally accepts it from numerous houses he visits. This shows how he cannot cope with cosmos and his past so he uses a crutch, in this case alcohol, to make him wash away his reality and forget his underlying problems. Moreover, when Neddy decides to swim across the county, it shows how he is possibly utilize the idea as a way to keep his mind sour his past. Likewise, in A move up for Emily, Emily keeps her fathers body for trine d ays after he dies (13). This reveals Emilys desire to control some other and her refusal to accept the fact of death.Her desire to control is her crutch and it shows how she does not want to let go of her past since her father, before he died, controlled her, so she had to cling to that which had robbed her (14). Lastly, the actions and personalities of Neddy and Emily intend the archetypal change that they ultimately face. For example, in The Swimmer, after completing his journey, Neddy cries for () believably the first gear time in his adult life (27). When compared to Neddys first description of being very happy, offspringful, with nothing confining in his life, it emphasizes the change that Neddy faces despite his attempts to avoid it (21).In contrast, in A Rose for Emily, Emily does not go through any change as she stays confined in her house, with the only sign of life about the place being the b inadequacyamoor man ()going in and out with a market basket (12). Her lack of change as a person while the newer generation became the book binding and the spirit of the town, illustrates her dis deal towards change as a total (16). This also emphasizes her reluctance to let go of her past because it would involve change, which she distinctly loathes.Ultimately, the characters actions and personalities create irony because their problems are expressed through them, despite their efforts to forget about it. The setting one resides in could be a agent that influences ones actions and characteristics. The setting that one resides in can give insight about their way of life. Firstly, the American suburbia and Southern town that Neddy and Emily reside in directly symbolizes their problems. For example, the setting in The Swimmer is illustrated to be an American suburbia full of wealthy and privileged adults who spend all their time drinking and having parties.This is emblematicalal of Neddy who considers himself energetic and having especial slenderness of youth with very few problems (21). However, just like the suburbia, under Neddys unmistakable happiness and bloated comfort lie growing family and economic problems. Similarly, A Rose for Emily portrays the setting to be a southern town with ignorant views and rumours. This is vocalisation of Emilys ignorance towards change because despite many messages from the mayor and sheriff asking for change, Emily would not listen to them (16).Secondly, the societies and settings that Neddy and Emily are in emphasize the possible sources that fuel their reluctance to let go or hold on to their past. For example, the society in The Swimmer makes Neddy act like everyone else where people have parties, fun, and are honour to give Neddy a drink (26). This illustrates how Neddys problem with accepting his past could have rooted from his towns society where he is pass judgment to live in apparent happiness. Similarly, the society that Emily is in expects her to act like others, like when Emily is expected to unify someone.This shows how Emilys necrophilia and use of her fathers haughty ways was cause by the society because she was expected to marry someone, just since Homer was not a marrying man, she killed him so she could be with him and be in control (15). Lastly, the settings that Neddy and Emily reside in emphasize the changes they face. For example, in The Swimmer, as Neddy begins his journey and is unaware of his problems, the setting is described as a midsummer Sunday where everything seems peaceful and perfect (15). As Neddy continues his journey and his problems and past begin to dawn on him, the weather changes and a thunderstorm occurs.By the end, the place is dark and gloomy and Neddy is hit with the full realization of his problems (28). This miserable fallacy is symbolic of the change that Neddy goes through because the setting and weather are directly connected to his emotions, changing depending on how he feels. Similarly, in A Rose for Emily, as th e town changes constantly, Emilys house stays, lifting its stubborn and flirtatious decay (11). The fact that her house is described to be stubborn and decaying is symbolic of Emily, who is also stubborn towards change and is decaying metaphorically, as she lives in her past, confined from the out-of-door world.Ultimately, it is shown that the setting one resides in can heavily influence the decisions and choices one makes. The setting of a story is closely linked to the plot as it has influence on it. The plot of a story connects the characters and settings to the problems and difficulties at hand. Firstly, the irony of the plots illustrates the futility of Neddy and Emilys reluctance to accept and let go of their past. For example, The Swimmer is ironic because Neddy drinks alcohol in order to forget about his past moreover it ends up sharpening his unhappiness and problems.The irony emphasizes how Neddys attempt at forgetting his past is pointless and futile because it ends up coming back to him. Likewise, A Rose for Emily is ironic because Emily buys arsenic and the town thinks, she will kill herself with it, but Emily ends up using it to poison Homer (15). This shows how Emily did not chose death as a way out of her past but succumbed to her fathers controlling ways. She resorted to necrophilia in order to control Homer, emphasizing how her reluctance to let go of her past is useless because in reality, she can never go back to her past.All she can do is pretend to still be in the past by dwelling on her fathers old ways. Secondly, the structure of the plots emphasizes the overall damage that Neddy and Emily face. For example, The Swimmer ends with Neddy looking at his abandoned and broken down house. The fact that there is no travel action shows how Neddys disregard for his past upscale his problems to the point of no return. In contrast, A Rose for Emily does not follow a continuous beginning to conclusion structure since it begins with Emilys deat h.The non-chronological and unnatural structure is symbolic of how Emily, who was once considered tradition, a duty, and a care, had succumbed to unusual and unnatural ways (11). Lastly, the troth of the plots illustrates additional sources that fuel Neddy and Emilys problems. For instance, The Swimmer portrays the central conflict to be person vs. himself since Neddy always needs a drink, showing how he cannot control his urge (26). This emphasizes how his problems are deeply rooted in his drink and are simply not from his family and economic problems.In contrast, the main conflict in A Rose for Emily is person vs. erson since Emilys father was genitive case and controlling of Emily. The town remembers all the young men Emilys father had drive away illustrating how he kept Emily isolated from the community (14). This shows how Emilys eccentric ways and hatred towards change stemmed and rooted from her father because of the way he treated her. Since he controlled her so much, E mily had no choice but to cling on to the past when he died because it was the only thing she was used to. Ultimately, the plot emphasizes how Neddy and Emily created more problems than they started out with by not letting go or accepting their past.In conclusion, the two short stories The Swimmer by John Cheever and A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner emphasize, through the development and actions of the characters, the aspects of the settings, and the structure and irony of the plot, how a reluctance to accept or let go of ones past can lead to many complications and difficulties. Ultimately, when people with underlying problems reside in a society, whose views and traditions tempts them to forget or cling on to their past, end up losing their grip on reality and ruining their lives.