“A Rose for Emily” is a mysterious and unusual short story. William Faulkner creates a character, Miss Emily Grierson, who is so significant to the town that she is referred to as a “fallen monument” after her death. Miss Emily is an eccentric character, and although she physically changes, her character nor her personality do. Miss Emily is a static character, with internal conflicts, and has odd relationships with her boyfriend and husband. For instance, Miss Emily kept her late father's body and refused to give him up, showing an inability to let go. She keeps his body because she also does not want to be isolated, even though she avoids interaction by staying in her home. Miss Emily's isolation is external with society and also resonates…
The characteristics of Miss Emily’s house symbolize her appearance as she becomes decrepit with time and neglect. The house was a beautiful white decorated with gorgeous cupolas, set on what was the best street. Then it became a monstrous monstrosity. Miss Emily changed the same ways as her house did and she too became an eyesore. She had once been a slender figure and later she becomes fat and motionless. During Miss Emily’s death she had been referred to as a fallen monument, which could mean she was once something beautiful and…
In the very beginning the author describes the house where Emily resides. Faulkner writes, “It was a big, squarish frame house that had once been white, decorated with cupolas and spires and scrolled balconies in the heavily lightsome style, set on what had once been our most select street” (1). He suggests that the family used to be wealthy and probably had slaves, but since the story occurs after the civil war Emily’s family freed their slaves and eventually lost their capital.…
William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” is the life story of Miss Emily Grierson. A woman whose life is fraught with tragedy and grief. Strategically told out of order, Miss Emily’s life draws us in, beginning with the end of her life and the opening of her house to the curious townspeople. The “scrambled” telling of this story serves several purposes in enhancing the story’s interest and depth.…
Another aspic of A Rose for Emily is symbolism. Even though it is said that “Faulkner himself disowned symbolic readings” (Kelly, 155) there are a few symbolic elements intertwined in this great mystery. It is ironic that Faulkner disowned symbolic readings, yet the overall story of A Rose for Emily is said to be symbolic. “Nearly all critics think Emily symbolizes the decay of the old order, the dissolution of the Southern aristocracy.” (Kelly, 155).…
There are a few denotative meanings of the noun “house.” One well-known meaning is, “a dwelling place for one or more persons, especially a family.” It can also mean to some people “family.” The house is a symbol of how Emily with time has become old and more decrepit because of the neglect for herself. Faulkner states, “It was a big, squarish frame house that had once been white, decorated with cupolas and spires and scrolled balconies in the heavily lightsome style of the seventies, set on what had once been or most select street” (90). Emily used to be very beautiful in her youth but with time she became less and less of an important figure in her town because she stopped taking care of herself. Faulkner goes on to describe the house as the, “eyesore among eyesores” (90). Emily became exactly like her house; she became an eyesore to the people of the town because of her neglect to herself. Faulkner describes her in her prime as having a slender figure but later describes her as, “bloated, like a body long submerged in motionless water with eyes lost in the fatty ridges of her face” (91).…
In William Faulkner “A Rose for Emily’’ we think about who is Emily, what does the rose symbolizes, and most of all who is the narrator. Throughout most of Faulkner’s story for me as a reader I wanted to figure that out. In the beginning Emily is presented as a woman who grew up wealthy never having to worry about anything. But over time things changed after her father’s death. Later on, Emily never really takes notice of the present.…
In the story “A Rose for Emily" Faulkner uses unconventional symbols. Symbols give readers a greater understanding of the setting and help define Miss Emily's…
Symbolism is the main factor in understanding of the theme of the story. Mr. Faulkner provides many symbols throughout the story. Foremost is the title "A rose for Emily". The rose from the title symbolizes the absent love she feels. When a bachelor is in love, he give a rose to the person they love. The title symbolizes the roses and flowers that Emily never received, and the love that escaped her. Another dominant symbol in the story is the house. In the beginning, the house was said to be big, white and beautifully made. Just like Miss Emily When she was young, however as time goes on, the house grow harsh and dirty, just like the personality of Miss Emily. Emily's life is much like the house, suffers from love and eventually comes crashing down.…
In the short story “A rose for Emily” by William Faulkner, it starts off with the unknown narrator explaining Miss Emily’s funeral and why the townspeople actually attended. From this the reader learns what type of character Miss Emily is. She does not like change and cannot handle denial. Her family’s name and the way she was bought up by her father is the explanation for this. Throughout the story the reader realizes how respected her family was and what lengths Miss Emily is willing to go to keep the man she loves by her side. The allegory in a rose for Emily would be the townspeople and Miss Emily. Miss Emily is stuck in the past and the town treats her as if nothing has changed. Miss Emily being so isolated in her home shows her unwillingness to accept that the South is changing even when the influences of the North are taking over. The new generation with their new ideas tried to change the ways of Miss Emily but failed. When they demanded taxes, she refused to pay, and she won. This is symbolic of Miss Emily’s efforts to keep the South’s culture alive. The conflict in this short story is internal. Miss Emily cannot understand the idea of death. When Miss Emily’s father dies she refuses to believe it. She also suffers a lot when denied because as soon as she thought her boyfriend, Homer Barron, would leave her she bought poison, the arsenic, and he disappeared. She killed him to make sure that he would never leave. The arsenic was a symbol of getting rid of something. It is used to “kill anything up to an elephant” (4) and for Miss Emily is was used to end Homer Barron’s life. Homer Barron is a FOIL character because he is constantly around Miss Emily giving her the impression that he wants to be with her and because of that Miss Emily falls in love with him. Miss Emily is an indirect character because we cannot understand her. For example, she wants to be by herself which is why she is never seen outside her house but she longs for a partner in life and when…
Emily’s house that is very similar to her is a structure of a memorial, the only remaining of a symbolic representation of the past. The house “It was a big, squarish frame house that had once been white, decorated with cupolas and spires and scrolled balconies in the heavily lightsome style of the seventies, set on what had once been our most select street. But garages and cotton gins had encroached and obliterated even the august names of that neighborhood; only Miss Emily’s house was left, lifting its stubborn and coquettish decay above the cotton wagons and the gasoline pumps-an eyesore among eyesores (pg204). The house is an extension of Emily. It is a tradition but now it’s out of place because of the society that has changed around her. The house, like its owner, is an object of interest for them. They create their own interpretations of the inside of Emily’s torn down house.…
In the short story, A Rose for Emily, there are numerous contributing factors to Miss Emily's desire to kill Homer Barron. Several of the reasons were the influence of the people throughout her life, such as, her father, the women in the town, and Homer Barron himself. Miss Emily's father had a major impact on her life even though he were dead all through the story. Emily's father kept her from having any other male influence other than himself by chasing away any men who tried to court her. The women of the town were another factor that led to Emily's problem. They constantly gossiped and judged every aspect of her life, and when Homer became a part of Emily's life, they judged him as well. One other contributing factor…
At the very beginning of the story, when the narrator is describing the house in which Ms Emily lived, we get our first glimpse of symbolism. The way Faulkner describes the house, then and now, actually represents Ms Emily's life. The paint and color of the house represents Ms Emily's conscience. Earlier, the house is clean and white, pure. As time goes on the house becomes decrepit, and sullied, much like Ms Emily's conscience. The "select street" that she lives on in the earlier years, which later becomes infected and surrounded by cotton gins and garages, represents her place in society. While her father was alive, and sometime after he had passed, Ms Emily was considered high class. Suitors were deemed unworthy to claim her. As more and more tragedy strikes her life, people no longer envy, but pity Ms Emily. When Faulkner describes her house as "lifting…
In “A Rose for Emily”, the narrator begins the story by letting us know that Miss Emily Grierson has died and that she had not been seen in at least ten years. As the narrator continues to describe the house and it’s location as being located on, “which had once been our most select street,” is now encroached and obliterated by garages and cotton gins, it is undoubtedly obvious that the narrator’s goal was to depict Miss Emily Grierson as one who has been living in seclusion in avoidance of a seemingly changing world. The narrator later goes on to say, “only Miss Emily’s house was left, lifting its stubborn and coquettish decay above the cotton wagons and the gasoline pumps – an eyesore among eyesores.” I felt that this description of Miss Emily’s house as being one of stubborn decay was more so a description of Miss Emily herself than the house.…
There are many different themes that can be discussed in “A Rose for Emily.” The most important theme that Faulkner wants to point out in his story is that of loneliness and isolation. Being completely isolated from other people can make a person go crazy as we clearly see in this story. Emily was isolated from everyone. Her father pushed any man that tried to pursue her away because he believed that his daughter was too good for them. Also, her father made it apparent to everyone in town that he believed his family was more important and should be respected in higher regard than anyone else in town. This made all of Emily’s neighbors pitty her and they often sat around and gossiped about her life. The way her father acted made everyone in the town basically turn their backs on her to where she had no friends. Finally, it appeared that a man was trying to pursue her after her father died but it turns out that he was not really all that interested in her. All of this isolation and rejection eventually brought Emily to her breaking point. She couldn’t deal with not having anyone to spend her life with therefore she killed Homer, the man whom everyone thought was pursing her, and kept his body so that she wouldn’t be alone. Another theme seen throughout this story is that of tradition. Tradition is something that many people take very seriously and trying to break a tradition can often put individuals into a state of uproar. Emily’s house was a part of the tradition. It represented…