For the most part, there is little to separate Northerners
and Southerners other than geographical boundaries, such as the Mason-Dixon Line. But
had you grown up in the Deep South during the time of William Faulkner's short story, "A
Rose for Emily," the differences would be a little clearer. The South's hatred of the
Northern states had been building since long before the Civil War. Most Northerners
disapproved of the slavery still in existence in Southern states, and Southerners did
not care for the large number of immigrants that flocked to Northern cities. As the
Civil War drew near, the North's political power became overwhelming; and when Abraham
Lincoln was elected president, the Southern states soon seceded, and Lincoln
sent troops into the new Confederacy to bring them under control--and back into the
Union.
The hatred and bloodshed intensified for four years,
resulting in a defeated and devastated South. Slavery was no more, the Southern economy
was wrecked, and many of the Southern men never returned home. Southerners were forced
into a Northern-created Reconstruction period, in which the states were forced to
conform to a new set of rules--both social and political. The South slowly rebuilt
itself, returning to a more prosperous lifestyle, but most Southerners never got over
their hatred of the "damned Yankees" who had destroyed their
lands.
Such feelings were still evident in Jefferson in "A
Rose for Emily." There were still surviving veterans of the war, telling their tales to
a new generation willing to listen. Yankees were still barely tolerated in places such
as Jefferson, though Homer Barron's ready smile and good humor won over many new
friends. Many people thought it disgraceful, however, that Miss Emily--a member of one
of the town's most illustrious families--would even consider lowering herself to
marrying such a man, Northern born and of a common background. In Jefferson, such a
match would still have been considered scandalous.
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