A boy’s fascination with a girl
William Faulkner, in A Rose for Emily, delivers a surprising end with the discovery of the body of Miss Emily’s lover after her death. It is easy to think that the progression of Miss Emily from her younger days to her frailty and sternness in old age, and finally, her death is all that is held in store for the reader. However, the author reveals the real vicious and murderous character of Miss Emily in the last part of the short story. However, Faulker hints at a mysterious happening with the information that the neighborhood knew about a room that had never been opened. As Faulkner (634) narrates, the room had remained out of bounds of all people for forty years, and they had to wait for the burial of the owner before they forced it. Upon opening, they discover the body of a man who could only be Miss Emily’s lover and who everyone believed had deserted her. Miss Emily’s eccentric nature is realized with the discovery of a strand of hair on the bed where the decayed corpse of the man lay. The author suggests that Miss Emily used to spend time lying on the bed beside the dead man.
The Main Idea in Araby
James Joyce’s Araby is the first-person narration of a boy’s fascination with a girl. The narrator tells about his raging feelings of love and adoration towards Mangan’s sister. He would follow her but never gathered the courage to talk to her. Still, the feeling of love for her raged in him. He likens the effect of her name to a summons (Joyce 170). When she eventually talked to him, he did not know what to say back to her. He could not concentrate on his classwork, with her image occupying the space between him and the books. Also, her vision interfered with his sleep (Joyce 171). Therefore, the main idea in the short story is romance bordering on the infatuation of a boy towards a girl. The narrator describes it as an adoration that is blind.