An Analysis of a Rose for Emily

An Analysis of A Rose for Emily In the short story “A Rose for Emily”, by William Faulkner, the entire town 's fascination with Miss Emily Grierson is motivated by her of unwavering old-fashioned values. While the town of Jefferson is slowly becoming modernized following the Civil War, Emily and her decadent house remain the last monuments of tradition. Faulkner decided to narrate the story using a broken series of events which successfully illustrates the horrific standards in which Emily rejected change. He also uses an unknown narrator, an obvious resident of the town of Jefferson, in order to make the reader feel as if they were participating in the gossip involving the main character. The townspeople of Jefferson cling to stories of Miss Emily Grierson. Since she is eccentric and reclusive, the residents easily tittle-tattle about the woman they know very little about. Throughout the short story, the residents feel pity for Emily owing to her “unfortunate” circumstance of being a spinster. The fascination with her being unmarried also represents the role of gender during this time period. They also view her as a role model of establishment when she refuses to pay taxes based on previous agreement made with the deceased Colonel Sartoris. However, when Emily establishes a relationship with Homer Baron, a man outside of her usual aristocratic society, the citizen’s of Jefferson fascination becomes more of an obsession. There are recurrent remarks made by the narrator that discuss the unfavorable relationship between races and social classes, which acknowledges that civil change is also frowned upon. They view Emily as an interesting object, like a celebrity, and the stories they tell regarding Homer’s sudden disappearance are usually and unfortunately based on pure fiction. Other than Emily herself, her house is the remaining institute of southern tradition. However, the magnificence of the house is not preserved as the years go by. Instead it ages and decays

Cited: Shmoop Editorial Team. "A Rose for Emily" Shmoop.com. Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 7 Nov. 2011. Faulkner, William. “A Rose for Emily.” Literature, an Introduction to Reading and Writing. 3rd Compact Ed. Edgar Roberts, Henry Jacobs. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson, Prentice Hall, 2006. 74-79. Print.