Sympathy For Protagonists In A Rose For Emily And The Country Husband

Humanizing Morally Reprehensible Characters: Finding Sympathy for Protagonists in “A Rose for Emily” and “The Country Husband” Typically, readers have a difficult time rooting for or even sympathizing with characters who engage in behavior which is considered deviant or morally wrong. Two writers who challenge readers to find fallible and immoral characters sympathetic are John Cheever and William Faulkner. In John Cheever’s, “The Country Husband”, the reader truly sympathizes for Francis Weed, an adulterer who feels neglected by his family and put off by the polite society of Shady Hill. Likewise, William Faulkner’s lead character in “A Rose for Emily”, Emily Grierson, becomes perhaps one of the most sympathetic characters in literature due to her tragic fate even though she murdered her lover in cold
Both seem to know they do not truly fit into their respective societies. This is evident with the argument that ensues between Francis and his wife, with Julia noting “You must have understood when you settled here that you couldn’t expect to live like a bear in a cave.” (Cheever 492). His reaction is completely at odds with societal view; he lashes out at Julia and strikes her. It is only when Julia threatens to leave that Francis gives up and agrees to submit to society’s will. In “A Rose for Emily”, the rejection is rampant. Time and time again, Emily rejects modern society. This is evident by her refusal to pay the city tax, receive the ladies of the town after her father’s death, refusing to traverse the town streets and last, to put up numbers on her house or install a mailbox. The ultimate rejection is that of her lover, Homer Barron. Emily simply cannot bring herself to marry him thereby accepting him into her life so she murders him. It is this outcast characteristic that humanizes these characters which in turns makes them