A Rose for Emily Essay

Desperation for love arising from detachment can lead to extreme measures and destructive actions as exhibited by the tumultuous relationships of Miss Emily in William Faulkner's “A Rose for Emily” (rpt. in Thomas R. Arp and Greg Johnson, Perrine's Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense, 9th ed. [Boston: Wadsworth, 2006] 556). Miss Emily is confined from society for the majority of her life by her father, so after he has died, she longs for relations that ironically her longing destroys. The despondency and obsession exuded throughout the story portray the predicament at hand.

A Rose for Emily is a short story written by William Faulkner. It tells the story of a young African American woman that is withdrawn from the community she was rise in. Emily Grierson, the title character in the story which is set in a southern town lends the landscape for this character’s behavior. Thought of as the last of the Confederate monuments before her death, also suffered from a mental illness which is believed to be cause by her father who kept Emily under lock and

Miss Emily tried to keep the body of her father with her in her house. This signifies that she did not

William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” is a very interesting and tragic story about Emily Grierson. She is an old woman, who deals with many problems. This story has symbolism too. Many of the things that the story says actually mean more than what they sound like literally. That is what symbolism means of course.

Her unwillingness to change after the civil war was one of the reasons she was so isolated. The narrator tells us twice that Miss Emily is similar to an idol, probably because she was raised to think she was above others, and others were raised to look up to her as well.  She was stuck with the mindset that she was better than others, even when the community was changing she believed that she didn’t have to obey the law. She also kept to herself and no one knew anything about her. According to Faulkner, the quote “…A note on paper of an archaic shape, in a thin flowing calligraphy in faded ink…” shows me in a symbolic way, that Emily is stuck in time. The story of Emily is old and dated itself. The author uses the words archaic, calligraphy, and faded. It took me back in time while reading these words, which is exactly what Emily is.

By my reasoning Emily Grierson could be understood by the reader as a victim of her father’s dominance, a symbol of the past, and a murderess. Throughout the story, the overbearing presence of Emily Grierson's father is perhaps the greatest influence on her actions. The story tells us how Miss Emily's father rejected her

This can be seen in the manner she reacts to her father’s death, the changing society, and the thought of Homer Barron leaving her. To better understand the story, William Faulkner uses various symbols throughout the story: a rose, the house, and Miss Emily’s hair. On the surface, roses typically remind people of love. When a suitor wishes to marry a young lady, he will bring her a rose.

The fact that it is in the title shows that it is very important to understand Emily as a character and why she was the way that she was. This also could represent Emily herself, just as a rose she was once glorified and held many promises for the

The use of a rose is symbolic and insightful to Faulkner’s story since it represents young love. It is because young individuals

William Faulkner is known for his Southern Gothic style of writing. One of his short stories “A Rose for Emily” is about a girl who kills that guy that she loves to be with him. Emily killed him by using Arsenic. Even though the story may be a little weird, it is one of my favorite stories by William Faulkner. The first time I read “A Rose for Emily” I became intrigued about arsenic.

An important symbol in the short story, “A Rose for Emily,” was the house Emily was inherited by her father. Faulkner uses the house to represent how death affects the life of a Emily. The house is an important symbol, because Faulkner used it to to show Emily herself physically, emotionally, and also used to represent her refusal to

Symbolism is the use of symbols to represent qualities or ideas. In A Rose for Emily, it appeared there was much symbolism. It appeared in Emily’s house, Homer Barron, and even Emily herself. Her house was once a beautiful mansion, that was the center of attention in the town. Her family owned slaves, and had their very own plantation. But, in the years following 1894, the culture in the south was changing. Slaves were no longer a necessity, and plantations were becoming less and less popular. Slavery was becoming something people looked down upon, and Emily didn’t like this idea. The Grierson house was symbolic to this idea, slavery was no longer liked, and it was degrading. Homer was a Yankee, which meant he was from the north. The townspeople didn’t like the idea of a Northerner being in their closely knit southern society. This may have played a factor on why the town didn’t do anything about his death. Homer was a symbol of the North, which was united with the south again, and finally getting a good look at what slavery was like. Although, Homer was not a very good person, he was going to marry Emily because she was sleeping with him. It is stated in the story, “Then we said, “She will persuade him yet,” because Homer himself had remarked--he liked men, and it was known that he drank with the younger men in the Elks’ Club--that he was not a marrying man.”, which leads the reader to the conclusion that he doesn’t want a wife because he likes being with men more. This

William Faulkner's short story “A Rose for Emily” tells the story of an old and lonely lady stuck in her own time frame. Faulkner describes Emily Grierson as “a woman in black, with a thin gold chain descending to her waist and vanishing into her belt. Her skeleton was small and spare.” Emily was a character that was portrayed as a monument, and the classic outsider. She lived in a dark and dusty house that was previously elegant and white. Emily has not had any visitors in over ten years. Her house had become one of the most hideous looking homes on a street that was once one of the most select streets in the city. The townspeople gossiped about her all the time and pitied her soul. This story passes on the battle that originates from attempting to keep up custom even with radical change through the impacts of the power of death, Emily's home and new versus old. All through the story, it additionally in a roundabout way reveals to us that if the South continues declining to acknowledge the certainty of verifiable and social change it will die lonely like

In the story, there is no mention of an actual rose, yet the story title is “A Rose for Emily.” Another symbol is the rose. In the article, “Symbolism,” the author states he or she believes that the title reflects what Faulkner thinks

Emily’s character from the beginning of the story seemed to me as tragic character whose life could not get any better. In the story it never mentions Emily having any brothers or sisters so we a left to conclude that she is an only child. Also, Emily mother’s is not mentioned as well, and so that kind of plays a role on how Emily’s relationship with her father was. Emily’s father seemed to have controlled every aspect of her life. It seems as her father kept her away and isolated her from the rest of the town while he was alive. Keeping her secluded kept her from having friends, meeting new people, and potentially finding a love interest. Doings these things would only set up Emily for a future that she could not escape from. Emily’s father controlling, demanding, and harsh ways would affect her character’s behavior as the story continues. Surely enough Emily’s father behaviors did just that. Once he had died Emily’s attachment to her father and her mental state would not allow her to accept that her father was