2012年5月21日 星期一

JE75 Shadow of the Past


            Emily was born into a high social class family. Her father was really protective and did not allow Emily to get married with her love before his tragic death. She refused to accept her father’s death and could not move on. The townspeople were gossiping how Emily got old and still had not found her love. Back then, everyone was expected to get married before 30. Especially living in a small town, Emily was pressured to get married as soon as possible. Later, she met Barron, a white Yankee, who later rejected her too. Her shadow of being restricted to fall in love and the death of her father had led her to the motivation of murdering Barron. She felt both love and hate toward Barron at the same time. On one hand, she wanted to stay with Barron; on the other hand, she wanted him to die because he rejected her. At last, she ended up sleeping with the dead skeleton. Her hair has grown gray probably because of depression and anxiety.

            In Taiwanese society today, people tend to get married around 30, after finishing graduate school or found a stable job. Still, everyone expects people to get married, especially guys. Men in Chinese society play a role of continuing family heritages thus are given more pressure to organize a family. I think this is unfair because everyone has a choice of their lives and future. 

1 則留言:

  1. I think you analyzed the story well. Indeed, Emiy's experience with her father influenced her decision and choice of what she did to Homer Barron. Therefore, we truly are influenced by the shadows of our past. Also, in society people still anticipate others to get married and that puts a certain amount of pressure on people.

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