A Rose For Emily By William Faulkner: Literary Analysis

“A Rose for Emily,” written by the late William Faulkner, is a prominent Southern Gothic short story. Faulkner (1897-1962,) a Southerner from Mississippi, uses the social, economic and cultural standing of the Mississippi post-Civil-War in his literary works. The gothic influence makes the work have a creepy twist. The context that the story was written is medias res, the midst of action. This gives readers an idea of the story’s background information prior to reading. Specifically, however, the work scrutinizes the struggle between tradition and change. Faulkner uses signs and symbols as an indication for a resistance that the main character, Emily Grierson tries to induce throughout the story. Some of these resistances include remaining
The narrator describes Emily as a fallen woman. A fallen woman is one who has been guilty of adultery or sex before marriage. Unfortunately, her father contributed to her tragedy by supporting her and encouraging her in her stubborn and haughty rejection of men. Homer Barron was one of the first men Emily found interest in within a long period of time. He can be described as a hefty man with a dark complexion, a deeper-toned voice, and lightly-colored eyes. Being that he has demanding demeanor, he wins many admirers in Jefferson because of his friendly nature and good sense of humor. He develops an interest in Emily and takes her for Sunday drives in a yellow-wheeled buggy. Homer was a working-class fellow, not good enough for Emily by most standards. Despite his attributes, the townspeople view him as a poor, if not scandalous, choice for a mate. Emily and Homer were dating without any talk of marriage which was considered scandalous. Eventually, when Homer Barron decides that he no longer wants to be in a relationship with her, she cannot handle being abandoned by him. At full lengths, this resistance to change is evident in Emily remaining locked inside her home, not considering cleaning or changing the bed sheets or pillow covers after her sudden heartbreak. Prior to the
This story serves as a good example for future generations. William Faulkner created a story involving many ideas about society and how it functioned in a specific period in the South. Emily was not understood by her contemporaries. Her father was a stubborn man who thought that no one was good enough for his daughter in which he drove away all the young men who were interested in his daughter. When Emily fell in love with Homer Barron, later she found out he liked men and was not a “marrying man”. All these factors resulted in Emily’s decision to choose death as the only possible means. This distraught her resistance for change and showed her passion to live life through