A Rose for Emily 7
Decay is found in numerous parts of “A Rose for Emily”. The image pattern works its way from Emily’s mind to the inside of her lover, Homer Barron’s, resting chamber. In “A Rose for Emily” you find five major elements of decay. The first element of decay that is found in “A Rose for Emily” is the decaying of Emily’s mental state. Emily may have felt trapped because her father wouldn’t allow any male suitors to visit her, so when her father died she likely felt she should trap his body and not bury it as revenge because he wasted her youthful potential for love and an independent life. Emily’s denial of her father’s death expands the theme of death because she traps herself home unwilling to allow the change of death to affect her lifestyle. Another element of decay that is found in “A Rose for Emily” is after the death of her father Emily allows the house to decay and become an eyesore, as the town’s people described it. Not only did the school look decrepit in a town that was embracing modernization but it also reeked of death and decay as well. Emily didn’t accept the theme of change because she seemed to live comfortably in the decay. She also wouldn’t accept the town’s people’s wants to modernize how the town looked by putting numbers above her door. Since Emily was living in a standstill in the period in which she grew up in, she never changed the interior of her house so she left all the furniture that was at one time very sophisticated go to waste and decay (Teen Ink). After her father and lover’s death, Emily let the decay continue to take its toll on her life by allowing her physical condition to decay. Emily at one time was one of the most sought after women with her slender body, angelic features, and her white attire. When she let the decay take over her personal hygiene and physical appearance she had traded in all those great looks for a heavy set figure, her dark eyes, and her grim black attire. When Emily let her physical appearance go she
Cited: "Critical Analysis of “A Rose for Emily"" Teen Ink. Web. 8 Feb. 2012. <http://www.teenink.com/nonfiction/academic/article/304178/Critical-Analysis-of-A-Rose-for-Emily/>. Faulkner, William, and M. Thomas Inge. A Rose for Emily,. [Columbus, Ohio]: Merrill, 1970. Print.