献给艾米丽的玫瑰花 读后感
《献给艾米丽的玫瑰》看似爱情小说，主线勾勒出身贵族世家的艾米丽小姐爱情的绽放与凋零；又可当作“侦探小说”，有自杀的猜测和谋杀的元素，悬疑留到文末才予以揭晓；还是“哥特式小说”的范本，神秘莫测的大宅、独居而与世隔绝的女人、常年缄默的佣人、门窗里飘出的死尸般的腐臭……
家教甚严的艾米丽小姐爱上了一生中唯一结交过的青年异性，来小镇当临时工程监工的北方佬Barron，此人放浪不羁、浮躁而浅薄，他无力应承艾米丽一份稳定的婚姻生活。于是镇上居民看见艾米丽进药店买了砒霜，纷纷猜测她要自杀；接着Barron失踪，再也没人见过他。艾米丽高压、专横的父亲去世后，她深居简出、大门紧闭；左邻右舍开始闻到她的宅子里飘出的越发浓重的恶臭，没人敢去惊扰她，于是偷偷地在门边、窗下撒石灰，希图掩盖那股难以忍受的味道；艾米丽小姐去世了，她下葬之后，人们终于得以进入那所阴暗的深宅，在一间锁上的房里，发现床上那具已腐烂多年的Barron的尸体，尸体旁另有一个枕头，有人睡过的痕迹，枕头上几根长长的白发——艾米丽的白发。
Barron在一无所知的情况下成为艾米丽无望的爱情的祭品，同时陈列在在祭坛上的还有艾米丽自己的青春和自己的一生。她无法攫取或挽留Barron，就毒死了他；从此夜夜和他的尸体同眠。
青年学生是无法理解这种“变态爱情”的，他们很可能会直接把主题解读为：我得不到你，我就毁了你！——不过是一种自私、愚蠢、激烈至死的爱，还值得大费周章、专题歌颂？
可福克纳是怎样评价艾米丽的呢？小说标题已说得很清楚了：献给艾米丽的玫瑰。而“玫瑰”一词只出现在标题里，小说全篇没有“玫瑰”的具体意象和字样。所以曾有人专门撰文探讨：《献给艾米丽的玫瑰——玫瑰何在？》
《献给艾米丽的玫瑰》是一首挽歌，缅怀一个失落的文明、一片“随风而逝”的精神世界；老南方的传统、老南方的荣光在北方工业文明的冲击下挣扎求生，但它的宿命已注定，轰然坍塌之后一地废墟，焦土瓦砾间唯见一支玫瑰，在缝隙中摇摇晃晃，在硝烟里徒留暗香……和福克纳更伟大的作品《喧嚣与骚动》、《八月之光》、《押沙龙！押沙龙！》相比，这部短篇自然缺乏长篇巨制才有的深刻寓意和宏大布局，但却是所有福克纳小说中“可读性”最强的一篇，一旦开卷、势必一气读完。
呵呵，又是你啊，老是求英文的赏析或评论哦，是不是学校要求的阿？英文系的？：）
本书大意：
“A Rose for Emily” is divided into five sections.
The first section opens with a description of the Grierson house in Jefferson. The narrator mentions that over the past 100 years, Miss Emily Grierson’s home has fall into disrepair and become “an eyesore among eyesores.” The first sentence of the story sets the tone of how the citizens of Jefferson felt about Emily: “When Miss Emily Grierson died, our whole town went to the funeral: the men through a sort of respectful affection for a fallen monument, the women mostly out of curiosity to see the inside of her house, which no one save an old manservant – a combined gardener and cook – had seen in at least ten years.”
It is known around town that Emily Grierson has not had guests in her home for the past decade, except her black servant who runs errands for her to and from the market. When a new city council takes over, however, they begin to tax her once again. She refuses to pay the taxes and appear before the sheriff, so the city authorities invite themselves into her house. When confronted on her tax evasion, Emily reminds them that she doesn't have to pay taxes in Jefferson and to speak to Colonel Sartoris, although he had died 10 years before.
In section two, the narrator explains that the Griersons had always been a very proud Southern family. Mr. Grierson, Emily’s father, believes no man is suitable for his daughter and doesn't allow her to date. Emily is largely dependent upon her father, and is left foundering when he dies. After Mr. Grierson's death, Emily does not allow the authorities to remove his body for three days, claiming he is still alive. She breaks down and allows authorities to take the body away for a quick burial.
Section three introduces Emily’s beau, Homer Barron, a foreman from the north. Homer comes to Jefferson with a crew of men to build sidewalks outside the Grierson home. After Emily and Homer are seen driving through town several times, Emily visits a druggist. There, she asks to purchase arsenic. The druggist asks what the arsenic is for since it was required of him to ask by law. Emily does not respond and coldly stares him down until he looks away and gives her the arsenic. When Emily opens the package, underneath the skull and bones sign is written, "For Rats."
Citizens of Jefferson believe that Miss Emily is going to commit suicide since Homer has not yet proposed in the beginning of section four. The townspeople contact and invite Emily's two cousins to comfort her. Shortly after their arrival, Homer leaves and then returns after the cousins leave Jefferson. After staying in Jefferson for one night, Homer is never seen again. After Homer’s disappearance, Emily begins to age, gain weight, and is rarely seen outside of her home. Soon, Miss Emily passes away.
The fifth and final section begins with Jefferson women entering the Grierson home. After they arrive, Emily's black servant leaves through the back door without saying a word. After Emily's funeral, the townspeople immediately go through her house. They come across a room on the second floor which no one had seen in 40 years, and break the door down. They discover a dusty room strangely decorated as a bridal room. The room contains a man's tie, suit and shoes, and a silver toilet set which Miss Emily had purchased for Homer years before his disappearance. Homer's remains lay on the bed, dressed in a nightshirt. Next to him is an impression of a head on a pillow where the townspeople find a single “long strand of iron-gray hair.” It is thus implied that not only had Emily killed Homer with the arsenic, but also has had an intimate relationship with his corpse up to her own death.
简评：
Miss Emily met Homer Baron, a foreman with a construction company, when her hometown was first getting paved streets. Her father had already died but, not before driving away her eligible suitors. As rumors circulate about her possible marriage to a Yankee, Homer leaves town abruptly. During his absence, Miss Emily buys rat poison.
When Homer returns, the townspeople see him enter Miss Emily’s house but not leave. Only when she dies do the townspeople discover his corpse on a bed in her house and, next to it, a strand of Miss Emily’s hair.
This Gothic plot makes serious points about woman’s place in society. Throughout the story, the reader is aware that these events are taking place during a time of transition: The town is finally getting sidewalks and mailboxes. More important, values are changing. The older magistrates, for example, looked on Miss Emily paternally and refused to collect taxes from her; the newer ones try, unsuccessfully, to do so.
Caught in these changing times, Miss Emily is trapped in her role as genteel spinster. Without a husband, her life will have no meaning. She tries to give lessons in painting china but cannot find pupils for this out-of-date hobby and finally discontinues them. If Homer is thinking of abandoning her, as his departure implies, one can understand her desire to clutch at any sort of union, even a marriage in death.
The theme is developed through an exceptionally well-crafted story. Told from a third-person plural point of view, it reveals the reactions of the town to Miss Emily. As this “we” narrator shifts allegiance--now criticizing Miss Emily, now sympathizing with her--the reader sees the trap in which she is caught, and the extensive but unobtrusive foreshadowing prepares the reader for the story’s final revelation without detracting from its force.
