A Rose For Emily Literary Analysis Essay

The sense of place as the physical place is important, but the essential understanding of it is the social one here. Emily is part of the aristocracy of the old South, one of “the representatives of those august names”; she belonged to a past proud of its roots, protective of its traditions, courage, honor, and ideals with “the ranked and anonymous graves of Union and Confederate soldiers who fell at the battle of Jefferson.” Emily “had been a tradition, a duty, and a care; a sort of hereditary obligation upon the town, dating from that day in 1894”. Miss Emily acts as very superior to the town people coming to ask the town’s taxes, “She did not ask them to sit”. She considers them as vassals; when they come to spray lime against the smell, she is at her window, making them aware she knows what is going on but she does not move ”the light behind her, and her upright torso motionless as that of an idol.” She is the lady in distress, even as she dates “Homer Barron, a Yankee” as he is not considered good enough for her by the town. But Miss Emily “carried her head high enough--even when we believed that she was fallen.” She stays strong and powerful in front of the others, “It was as if she demanded more than ever the recognition of her dignity as the last Grierson; as if it had wanted that touch of earthiness to reaffirm her imperviousness.” While her affair continues, Emily goes to the drug store to purchase

7) What is the significance of Miss Emily’s actions after the death of her father?

William Faulkner’s short story “A Rose for Emily” carries a theme represented by a dying breed of that era, while using symbolism to represent tragedy, loneliness and some form of pride, the story also shows how far one will go to have the approval of others and the pursuit of happiness.

In “A Rose for Emily”, Miss Emily Grierson lives a life of quiet turmoil. Her

William Faulkner is a well-known author, whose writing belongs in the Realism era in the American Literary Canon. His writing was influence by his Southern upbringing, often setting his stories in the fictional Southern town, Yoknapatawpha County. “A Rose for Emily” was one of Faulkner’s first published pieces and displays many of the now signature characteristics of Faulkner’s writing. The short story provides commentary through the use of many symbols. In William Faulkner’s short story, “A Rose for Emily”, the author uses the townspeople as a representation of societal expectations and judgments, Emily and her house as symbols for the past, and Homer’s corpse as a physical representation of the fear of loneliness.

A Rose for Emily written by William Faulkner exemplifies Emily Griersons personal trials and tribulations she faced from her young adulthood to the end of her life. Composed in 1931, Faulkner wrote about the old South traditions that Miss Emily followed extensively until the day she died. Throughout this short story the audience follows Miss Emily’s journey of constantly battling the emotional difficulties of being caught up in the time-period of the Civil War, and all the hardships that followed her. After losing her father, Emily lives in a permeant state of denial. This caused her to make unhealthy, rash decisions. “After her father’s death she went out very little…”. (Faulkner, 1993. pg. 207) Miss Emily is characterized by the reader as an old style southern girl, who is caught up in a town on forcing her to move on from her past. Afraid to live the rest of her life without any loved ones, Emily then murders her boyfriend Homer Barron. After losing her father, Emily decides that the only rational thing to do is keep Homers corpse upstairs in a room. In doing so, Emily wishes to feel a sense of comfort and peace when she lays next to him each night. Unable to accept the fact that the world is constantly changing around her, Miss Emily chooses to ultimately seclude herself. Eventually, disconnecting from everyone she remains locked inside her fetid mansion for years. “When we next saw Miss Emily, she had grown fat and her hair was turning gray”. (Faulkner, 1993. pg. 210)

In the story, A Rose for Emily, an elderly woman named Emily was controlled and kept away from finding love by her

The expression of symbolism of Emily's house depicts her outward appearance, which has turned decrepit through time and neglect. The house once stood in an old South prominent neighborhood just as Emily, it faced modernization. Without the necessary upkeep the house began to look ugly "lifting it's stubborn and coquettish decay above the cotton wagons and the gasoline pumps"(451). Then it fell to many as an "eye sore"(451). The house became a prison that Emily longed to capture love in. Just as the appearance of the house deteriorated Emily to had fallen from the "once slender figure in white"(453) to a "small, fat woman"(452) dressed in black, hiding a horrific secret. Emily and the house both have been distorted from neglect of love and care.

In "A Rose for Emily", a woman (for whom the story is named) confines herself in her somewhat large house in a small town during the early half of the twentieth century. For the most part, in order to understand the entirety of the story, it is vital to understand the setting and how each character develops it, and,or, interacts with it.

When the Board of Aldermen visited Miss Emily about the taxes she refused to pay,

She is evading paying taxes and the town wants her to pay them. The special meeting, they are holding is about sending tax notices and getting no reply from Emily. City authorities are paying a visit to her house finding a Negro servant answering the door. They are invited in smelling dust and disuse- a close, dank smell (Faulkner 31).

William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” is about an aristocratic spinster who is found dead by the townsfolk of Jefferson, Mississippi. They soon discover a warped secret while clearing out her house. The story is laid out into five parts, spread throughout a few decades involving Emily Grierson’s life. The authors purposefully shifted and manipulated time in the story for a reason; to learn about Emily’s life through a series of flashbacks.

Does every human being have a longing for their lives to remain the same? Is it possible that everyone, at one time or another, experiences a deep desperation to hold on to their lives as they are? "A Rose for Emily" portrays one woman’s battle with time, and her struggle to maintain. As the story unfolds, the reader is introduced to Emily, a “traditional” woman who had not been seen in public for over ten years (467, 1&3). Throughout her life of solitude, she refused to accept reality, refused to acknowledge changes, and rejected the realization that her generation and ways were slipping away. The entire street she lived on transformed from “what had once been [the] most select street” to being “encroached and obliterated” (467, 2), but

William Faulkner’s tale of suspense, “A Rose for Emily”, contains elements of Southern Gothic literature that can be found in the descriptions, plot, and setting of the story. Throughout the story there is a tone of eeriness and unease as well as grotesque descriptions that are reminiscent of traditional European Gothic literature. However, the story’s focus on the dynamic of the town’s people and the town’s outcast, Emily, make for the story to fit under the category of Southern Gothic literature which emphasizes social roles. Additionally, the story is set in Mississippi in a quaint town that is typical for Southern Gothic literature.

After Emily’s Father died she received notifications of her past due balances to pay her taxes. She never left the house and when the mayor and aldermen, or the younger generation, came over to see her in her home she was surprised to see them because she lived in isolation for 10 years after her father died. When mayor and alderman got there they had