The Old South In A Rose For Emily

Born in Oxford Mississippi in 1897, Faulkner was certainly subject to the South in its transformative State. The transformation would concern the results of the civil war, which considers moving past the South’s old way and moving forward and rebuilding in order to improve the state. Faulkner explores the theme of old South versus a new south in “A Rose for Emily” through the main character of the short story, Emily. This exploration is not quite so upfront and obvious, seeing as the story focuses on Emily’s mental state and a back story to Emily’s gothic relationship with the dead Homer Baron that lasted for 40 years. Beyond that, Emily can be thought of an emblem or a symbol of the old south. More importantly, she can be thought of as a
Emily’s connection to the south: the etiquette, the traditions, the customs, the rules, the way of life is very strong. During “A Rose for Emily” the South is going through a change Because of that change, she retreats into her house refusing to accept the new modern styles of living. The house is her sanctuary where she keeps can hold onto her old southern ways. The house reflects this in that in the sense that it was getting old and apart when the story took place (at the same time the old south was transitioning into the new south). The exterior is rotting away and the house looks out of place amongst the modern developments that are taking place. While the house was decaying, so too was the old south. The only way the Old South was kept alive was by strange figures such as Miss
This man, Homer Barron is a Yankee. He is an example of a Northerner who came to the south after the civil war to exploit the situation to profit from the south’s reduced circumstances. The town does not trust Barron, and that is to reflect the hostility between the North and the South (during and after the civil war). That being said, she falls under Barron’s charms, even though “a Grierson would not think seriously of a Northerner, a day labourer” (Faulkner). Her father would never consider this relationship appropriate, but nevertheless, Barron courts Emily. Barron is the epitome of the new south. The relationship between Emily and Homer Barron is a blending of the old and new south, the merging of two eras. Their relationship fails in the sense that, she is a ritual believe of old southern traditions and she cares about a man who does not. It is said that Homer, “is not the marrying type” (Faulkner). During the post civil war period, the southerners were being forced to update their way of life to more like their neighbours the industrialized north. Homer Barron being from the North represented the “next generation with it’s more modern ideas” (Faulkner). The relationship with Emily was doomed to fail because he valued everything she did