Emily Symbolism
Symbolism is an important literary element used in stories and poems in order to represent ideas not specifically stated. Symbols can come in the forms of motifs or metaphors and are used by having a character or object stand for an abstract idea. Many symbols add to the effect of a story by giving it hidden meanings that give the reader a better understanding of any situation. Many authors during the modernist time period included symbolism in their stories to help give them emotion and hidden meaning. William Faulkner, through his use of symbolism, was perhaps one of the most well-known authors from this time period. In “A Rose for Emily”, Faulkner uses many symbols such as the house, the rose, the arsenic, Emily’s hair, and Emily herself
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The rose represents the romance Emily wanted to experience but never got to because of her father sheltering her and Homer Barron leaving her. The townspeople describe how she must have been sheltered by saying, “She wouldn’t have turned down all of her chances if they had really materialized” (Faulkner 77). When Homer tries to run away from her after she thinks she has finally found the love she has been looking for, she kills him and preserves his body and clothes in her room just as a rose can be preserved to represent her love forever. The speakers describe what Emily has kept by saying, “Upon a chair hung the suit, carefully folded; beneath it the two mute shoes and the discarded socks. The man himself lay in the bed” (Faulkner 81). The rose is used to symbolized how love can be preserved even in the most extreme …show more content…
The house shows how beauty and greatness doesn’t last forever, while the rose represents how love can be preserved no matter what the case may be. The arsenic is symbolic of Emily getting rid of the pest in her life by using poison designed to kill rats. Emily’s graying hair was used by the townspeople to tell how much time was passing by, and Emily herself was used to symbolize tradition in the South. Faulkner uses all of these symbols throughout the story in order to convey a sense of emotion and give the story an unseen
The rose represents the romance Emily wanted to experience but never got to because of her father sheltering her and Homer Barron leaving her. The townspeople describe how she must have been sheltered by saying, “She wouldn’t have turned down all of her chances if they had really materialized” (Faulkner 77). When Homer tries to run away from her after she thinks she has finally found the love she has been looking for, she kills him and preserves his body and clothes in her room just as a rose can be preserved to represent her love forever. The speakers describe what Emily has kept by saying, “Upon a chair hung the suit, carefully folded; beneath it the two mute shoes and the discarded socks. The man himself lay in the bed” (Faulkner 81). The rose is used to symbolized how love can be preserved even in the most extreme …show more content…
The house shows how beauty and greatness doesn’t last forever, while the rose represents how love can be preserved no matter what the case may be. The arsenic is symbolic of Emily getting rid of the pest in her life by using poison designed to kill rats. Emily’s graying hair was used by the townspeople to tell how much time was passing by, and Emily herself was used to symbolize tradition in the South. Faulkner uses all of these symbols throughout the story in order to convey a sense of emotion and give the story an unseen