A Rose For Emily Changing South Analysis

William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” takes place during an era of new beliefs, opinions, and an atypical way of life for the US. Faulkner illustrates a clear depiction of this change that the South faces. The change that takes place in the town and Emily’s retaliation of the changes represent the devastation of the South at the time. The house can also be seen as a representation of the changing South and as an analogy for Emily and her life.
“A Rose for Emily” is told from the perspective of an unidentified inhabitant of the town where the story occurs. Emily’s family, the Grierson family, was practically celebrities and put on a high pedestal. Mr. Grierson, Emily’s father, was known to be strict in raising Emily. After he died, she felt connections and bonds with him, understandably so. Her father taught her to be proud of the South, and her loyalty, devotion and love of the South came from him.
In the story, Emily seems to find comfort in surrounding herself with things that reminded her of the past. She remains in the untouched house, potentially, as a result of her father’s death as her reaction was quite queer.
Just as in the appearance of the town as they “let the contracts for paving the sidewalks the people of the town turned to more modern ideas. At the turn of this new era, some people supported the change while others held onto the past. The town began to change, and those people that agreed with the new thoughts began to step up and recognize their worth. With its more progressive ideas, the newer generation became the strength of the town. As people of the older generation started to move out of Jefferson, in came the fresh, new minds that represented the New South. Emily still felt ties to the Old South, and so continued to hide herself away in her deteriorating house. It is in that house where she slowly deteriorates as a