Prequel Example: A Rose for Emily

Act One

James Grierson was 25 years old; he was a bright young man who had recently lost his father. He was shocked by his father's death. Now, he was obligated to take his father's position in the community. Grierson's family was living in Jefferson for almost two hundred years. James's grand-grand parents came into Jefferson, and they settled there. Therefore, the Grierson family had a significant role in the Jefferson community. James's father was a well-respected man who was interested in politics, and he was spending time with a powerful man in the community. For instance, almost every night, he went to the mayor's house, and he met other powerful men. Mayor's house was a significant meeting place in Jefferson because rich and powerful men were gathering here. They were discussing what improvements should have been made in Jefferson.

When James's father died, he knew it was time to take his father's place and attend meetings in the mayor's house. However, deep down, he did not want to be like his father because these meetings had kept his father away from him. He grew up without seeing his father at home at night, and in the daytime, James was busy because his father wanted him to be educated.

James hated the lessons he took, but he learned politics, economics, philosophy, and history. These lessons played a critical part in his personality because when he was 15 years old, he became an intellectual who had innovative ideas about improving Jefferson. Once a while, his father took James to the mayor's house. During his visit, he noticed that nobody paid attention to him; after all, he was a child in their eyes. Therefore, he lost his interest in joining these meetings. He committed himself to reading books.

Act Two

Years passed, James quickly embraced his father's place in the community. Now, it was time to get married, his mother found a few girls for him, but James did not like any of them. He thought that these girls were stupid, and none of them could not possibly be his wife. He believed in love, so he decided to wait until he finds true love. One night in the mayor's house, a new gentleman attended the meeting. James welcomed him with respect. While he was talking with him, he learned that this gentleman had three daughters, and they were recently moved to Jefferson. His youngest daughter was 13 years old, and his oldest daughter was 21 years old, his middle daughter Anna was 20 years old. He mentioned that her daughters were educated in philosophy, art, and literature since they were 7 years old. He showed their photographs to James, and he was quite interested in Anna, but he tried to hide his interest in front of her father.

On a sunny day, James wanted to go for a walk with his mother around Jefferson. They dressed and went out. Somewhere near the town, he saw Anna on the other side of the road; she was walking with her sisters and parents. When James's eyes crossed with Anna, he knew that she was the one, and he thought, "such a beautiful young woman, she can steal a man's heart with one look" After that, James walked to them and introduce both himself and his mother. Anna's father already knew James, so there was not any problem with their meeting.

Soon after, James talked with his mother about Anna; he said to his mother, "I want to marry her, she is the one who can be my wife," and her mother was glad, she said, " I would like to see you marry with Anna, she is an young beautiful lady." After this conversation, there was only one thing to do for James, and that was getting Anna's father's permission for the marriage. So, he spent sleepless nights waiting to talk with Anna's father because he did not know where they lived in Jefferson. His only chance was to hope they meet somewhere again.

Days passed very slowly for James, and one night at mayor house Anna's father came in. James's heart started to beat rapidly; he feared that if Anna's father won't permit this marriage, what he would do. On the other hand, he evaluated himself in his head; after all, he belonged to one of Jefferson's well-respected families, and he was rich and young. Eventually, he went to talk with Anna's father, and their conversation concluded positively on behalf of Anna and James. He gave his permission for their marriage.

Soon after their conversation, James and his mother paid a visit to Anna's house. James and Anna went for a walk. These two could not separate their eyes from each other while walking. James stopped under a tree and turned to Anna, he said "you are beautiful, I cannot get my eyes on you, and I do not want to leave your side for a second, oh Anna you steal my heart, once I swear to wait until I find true love, and when I saw you, my heart could not stop beating, I realized that you are my true love" against James's words, Anna blushed and glow with happiness. James continue "will you marry me Anna?" and Anna said yes.

Act Three

A month later, Anna and James were married. Their white house, decorated with cupolas and spires and scrolled balconies in the seventies' heavily lightsome style, set on the most select street (Faulkner, 1 para.1). In the first five years of their marriage, Anna got pregnant two times, and she made miscarriages. She wanted to have a son, but her hopes disappeared. Also, her older sister's condition drove her to depression because her sister had a mental illness.

Anna's older sister made an unfortunate marriage, and her husband mistreated her. She was unhappy, but she did not find any solution for an unfortunate destiny. So, she left herself with mental illness. On the other hand, her illness affected Anna's depression badly because the Jefferson community started to talk about Anna's sister's mental illness. When they see Anna on the street, they often said "Poor Anna" because, from their perspective mental illness was something to be ashamed of, and now Anna was a member of a well-respected family in Jefferson. Therefore, her sister's condition was embracing Anna in the eyes of Jefferson citizens'.

Anna fought with depression for almost a year, and her husband's efforts helped her. More specifically, she survived from depression and got pregnant. James always supported Anna, and he was there for her. He wanted to make sure Anna's comfort. So, he hired a black servant to take care of the housework. He was an honest man, and he helped Anna during her pregnancy. One morning, Anna was in labor, and she feared the baby's life because the baby was her only hope for living.

After six hours of labor, Emily was born, and she was healthy. James and Anna were flying with happiness. Also, James was crying because of happiness. His little girl opened her eyes and smiled at him. However, Anna was a little bit disappointed when she saw the baby's gender. She wanted a son. On the other hand, James did not care about the baby's gender, and he experienced the most beautiful feeling when Emily was born.

Emily was a beautiful baby like her mother. She was a curious baby, and she was born in one of the most respected families in Jefferson. Therefore, she will have to fulfill obligations because she was a member of the Grierson family. Her grandparents came to see Emily, and James's mother said that Emily's eyes look like her grandfather. So, Emily was granted the most honorable compliment by her grand-mother.

Act Four

The years passed quickly for the Grierson family. Emily grew up. When she was six years old, the Grierson family received a bad massage. James' mother was sick, and the doctor said that she had only a few days to live. Grierson's family was filled with sadness. Emily could not understand her father's sadness. James and Anna took Emily to visit her grandmother one last time. As we said earlier, Emily was not capable of understanding death. More specifically, she realized the importance of her last visit to her grandmother when she was older.

Her grandmother's last words to Emily were, "live a fulfilled life with happiness, always remember your blood's importance, and never bound to anyone, your grandfather never bound to anyone, you are his blood" Emily hug his grandmother while she was taking her last breaths. Then she went downstairs and wait in the living room for an hour.

Emily saw her father crying while he was walking downstairs. Anna came after him, and she was crying as well. Emily could not understand what was happening. Therefore, she hugged his father's leg and asked; why was he crying? Her father replied, "your grandmother is gone, we will always remember her with love, she passed away to heaven," then Emily asked, "what was heaven." Her father could not answer her question, so her mother had to talk with her about heaven. This was Emily's first memory of death. Back then, she did not know she would question death throughout her life.

Act Five

Emily was fifteen years old, and she was so smart as her father. She often argued with her mother because of her behaviors. According to her mother, Emily was acting like a man, and she should behave like a pretty woman. Therefore, Emily and her mother were fighting about this. Emily had a deep relationship with her father. She was in love with her father. One can say Emily loved her father more than her mother. After all, Emily was different than other girls, she was beautiful, but her behaviors were not like other girls. Her mother often suggested her she should behave right to her obligations. On the other hand, Emily resisted the obligations that were given to her by society.

Against these norms, Emily often questioned her existence. She thought of the obligations of being a woman in a patriarchal society. After all, society expected her to get married and take care of her family, but Emily never fitted these norms. Her goals were different than others. She wanted to find love, but she never wanted to get married. She never cared about her neighbors' ideas about her. Therefore, she considered herself as a free woman who challenged society's norms.

Emily's parents paid attention to her education, and her father supported her no matter what happens. One could observe that Emily's biggest supporter was her father. On the other hand, her mother always forced her to behave adequately, but she could not force her mind to think right to society's norms. Eventually, she won the fight that demanded her to act adequately to society.

One day her mother got sick, and there was nothing to do about it. During her last days, Emily felt guilty for disobeying her mother. She had not spent enough time with her mother. She felt the sorrow deep down in her soul. She could now understand her father's sadness because her heart hurt so much when her mother died. After that, her father could not accept her death for several days. Eventually, neighbors had to take her body from the Grierson house.

References

Faulkner, William. "A Rose For Emily." Web. 07 Dec. 2020.