Abstract

As one of Faulkner's most famous short stories, "A Rose for Emily" is considered the microcosm of Faulkner's literary theme, which vividly reveals the conflicts between the North and South, tradition and reality,  in human nature and between races. 

So far, a substantial number of researches have been done on this short story at home and abroad. From three aspects, this thesis analyzes the short story from a different point of view of an overlooked black servant— Tobe: 1) Tobe's significance on characters shaping, including maintaining the protagonist Emily's aristocratic lady image, the town people's complex attitudes to Emily and other black people's social status;    2) Tobe as a clue of the whole story and propellant for the climax, to a great extent, giving impetus to the development of the short story; 3) incomplete Tobe helps to create the ghostly atmosphere through the weird relationships between his master and others. Based on the detailed analysis of Tobe, this thesis concludes that although the black servant is given little description and almost ignored by the town people and even by most of the readers, his existence is of vital significance, for his existence vivifies other people's image in this short story and also makes the gothic story more appalling.   

Keywords: Tobe; significance; character shaping; plot developing; ghostly atmosphere

Contents

Abstract

摘要

Introduction-6

1.1 Literature Review-6

2. Tobe's Significance on Characters Shaping-10

2.1 The Favorer of Emily-10

2.2 The Contrast with the Town People-11

2.3 The Representative of Other Black Servants in the Town-11

3. Tobe's Importance on Plot Development-13

3.1 The Clue of the Whole Story-13

3.2 The Propellant for the Climax-14

4. Toby's Effect on Ghostly Atmosphere Creating-15

4.1 Incomplete Tobe-15

4.2 Weird Relationships-15

Conclusion-17

References-18