Cultural Resistance in the Onslaught of Social Change

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Cultural Resistance in the Onslaught of Social Change
"The only thing that is permanent is change", so says the ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus. Yet in the face of inevitable change, some people choose to lock themselves in time refusing to let go of the past. We can see this in literature in William Faulkner’s "A Rose for Emily" and Alice Walker’s "Everyday Use". Both stories are set in the backdrop of the American South highlighting the clash of traditional values as their world undergoes the grooves of change brought about by modernity and innovation and new ways of thinking and doing. In both stories, the authors dissect the different reactions of people to change, such the pressure to conform, the attachment to the old ways, the tendency to isolate oneself to shield from imagine and perceived social stigma, and the subtle and outward manifestations of resistance to change.
Both Walker and Faulkner highlights cultural resistance in the onslaught of social change as the weave the life stories of their main characters. Faulkner demonstrates this resistance in his portrayal of his main character in the story Emily who isolates herself from the rest of the community. Walker shows this kind of resistance in the characters of Mama and Maggie who chose to socially isolate themselves in contrast to the character of a family member who chose to embrace change. Although the stories’ plot are very different from each other as one borders on the bizarre and the other borders on the ordinary, the eerie quality of resistance to change in both stories takes on a similar taste and texture as tradition and attachment to the old ways find common ground in the two stories.
The character of Emily in Faulkner’s work epitomizes a previous culture being petrified in time whether in her aristocratic ways or in her traditional aristocratic house which is the only remaining symbol of the old in their neighborhood. Emily may be considered as "a fallen monument to the chivalric American South" where her isolation from the rest of the changing world becomes a clear testament of her resistance to change. She refused to pay her taxes citing some good deed done by her ancestors a long time ago. She alienates herself from the rest of the town, first when her father refused to accept suitors seemingly protecting their aristocratic estate and social status as there are no suitors who can match up to her high class social standing.
When her Father died she even denied it to the public but eventually relented after a time. After her few wild nights out with "boyfriend" she went into permanent isolation with only her servants being seen going in and out of their house. This attitude elicits negative feedback from the town people who directly or indirectly wanted to pressure her to conform to society’s standards. The town people do this directly by making her pay taxes and through indirect gossip such as calling her "Poor Emily" and even cruel remarks such as "She will kill herself… it would be the best thing" (Faulkner 124).
The inevitability and ruthlessness of the coming change and the consequent re...