Wayne Lusk
English 2341 : Introduction to Literature
Instructor : R.J. Lambert
Comparison Analysis Essay : Final Draft
A Rose for Emily vs. Where are You Going , Where Have You Been .
All around this country, you have many similarities in people when it relates to a person’s
type of behavior such as to what society considers strange or abnormal behavior. Strange, or
abnormal behavior can be illustrated by simply, the age process of a person from a small child, to
an adult in their prime, to an elderly in their somewhat golden years. When one is very observant
of the characters Emily, in the story A Rose for Emily, and Arnold Friend in the story, Where are
You Going , Where have You Been . One can find their similarities of both characters in the way
they are perceived by people in society through their attitude and behavior.
The similarities of character attitude, or behavior of Emily Grierson, and Arnold Friend
are as follows: First Emily Grierson “A small, fat woman in black, with a thin gold chain
descending to her waist and vanishing into her belt, leaning on an ebony cane with a tarnished
gold head. Her skeleton was small and spare; perhaps that was why what would have been
merely plumpness in another was obesity in her. She looked bloated, like a body long submerged
in motionless water, and of that pallid hue. Her eyes, lost in the fatty ridges of her face, looked
like two small pieces of coal pressed into a lump of dough as they moved from one face to
another while the visitors stated their errand.” What I found strange about Emily, after her father
passes away, she has the will to keep his remains for three days, and informs everyone in town
that he had not passed away. Emily, to me is strange like called gothic, because she had
disturbing issues that she always kept to herself a secret. Emily, went as far as shutting herself
out of the real world by refusing not to go outside of her home to socialize much with the towns
people of Jefferso . Emily’s refusal to change was one of her deepest fears. I personally feel,
Emily’s life was destroyed by her mean selfness father who assumed no young gentleman was fit
for his daughter to marry. What even makes Emily stranger like gothic is how she kept her dead
husbands remains for forty years trying to hide him from the town’s people which they found his
remains after Emily’s timely death. Emily, also was a symbol at the time representing the south,
which refused to change. What I found out about the meaning of A Rose for Emily it was a final
tribute of love to Emily in a past tense or final acceptance that Emily was finally gone forever.
Second, Arnold Friend “He was a man that dressed wearing tight faded jeans stuffed into
black, scuffed boots, a belt that pulled his waist in and showed how lean he was, and a white
pull-over shirt that was a little soiled and showed the hard small muscles of his arms and
shoulders. He looked as if he probably did hard work, lifting and carrying things. Even his neck
looked muscular. And his face was a familiar face, somehow: the jaw and chin and cheeks
slightly darkened, because he hadn’t shaved for a day or two, and the nose long and hawk-like”.
He was a man maybe in his thirty’s, who found a new friend named Connie who was fifteen at
the time. This is when Arnold Friend, lets the whole town know about his strange, abnormal
obsession of so called love for his sweet, young, fifteen year old Connie. However the dark side
of this strange, uncommon, unacceptable relationship was he was planning on raping poor,
sweet, innocent Connie who had nothing to do with the love he had said he had feeling towards
Connie. Arnold Friend, was a very strange man who had a sick, twisted, serial killer, love for
young Connie, and he was making Connie feel trapped like fly caught in a spider’s sticky web.
Arnold Friend, was being too polite and kind to Connie trying to lunar her into what he just
wanted for her and that was to rape her and her would take her life. Arnold, trying to be Connie’s
new friend, was trying to make himself look like a saint or so pure like no other, but in the horror
of it all he is not the man Connie, sees in the beginning. He tries to put her thoughts at rest but
the reality of it all poor Connie is confused, and terrified out of her mind.
The similarities that one might see in Emily Grierson and Arnold Friend was they both
carried out their lives in strange misguided ways such as both really wished their true identity
was kept a secret so they could benefit to what made them happy with in themselves. It is
undoubtedly a fact one can see that Emily, and Arnold with their strange, and abnormal behavior
are prone to go against what society considers the norm, and fall right in to the impression of
what is absurd, and not fit to society’s rim of specifications.
The question to ask oneself is the similarities between Emily Grierson and Arnold Friend
closely related? One can only reply that it reflects brilliantly up the age group of people who
have acquired the up most presence of maturity, and knowing the importance of deciphering the
true meaning of humanistic behavior.
Finally with “A Rose for Emily vs. Where are You Going, Where have you been.” Both
Emily Grierson, and Arnold Friend even with their disturbing, misguided similarities considered
themselves that they were living a normal life but in reality their humanistic behavior was not
quite accepted by society’s standards, and expectations. Both story characters represent what
depths that people will strive to accomplish to find their most inner happiness regardless what
the rest of the world may think.