Decay In William Faulkner's A Rose For Emily

William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” tells a story of a southern aristocratic woman who fails to modernize with her changing community. The theme of decay is shown throughout the entirety of the story. Faulkner sets the story through a twenty-year span before and after the Civil War; his use of imagery helps the reader visualize the decay of the traditional homes as the rest of the town modernizes. Faulkner then shows the decay of Miss Emily, a well-known tradition throughout the town of Jefferson. The Grierson family home is a physical symbol of decay throughout the story. Faulkner uses the southern setting, the aging Miss Emily, and the Grierson home to show the effects of holding onto a tradition.
The setting spans over a period of twenty years throughout the story; this allows the reader to visualize how the changing town leads to the decay of traditions. The Narrator immediately shows the effects the new generation has on the town. The Narrator writes, “When the new generation, with its more modern ideas became mayors…[they] created some little dissatisfaction” (Faulkner 778). The changes of the new generation varied
The Narrator describes the home once being, “It was a big, squarish frame house that had once been white…” (778). This shows that the house had once been a home for a wealthy family of the 1800s. The Narrator then describes the home a few lines later as, “Miss Emily’s house was left, lifting its stubborn…decay… an eyesore among eyesores” (778). Of the street that had once held the wealthiest family homes, the Grierson home is all that has been left. While the street around the house has modernized by factories and other industrial places, the Grierson home is the only place that has failed to change along with the community. Instead of still being well kept and beautiful, it is now the representation of the ugliness that Jefferson once held before the Civil