Analysis Of William Faulkner 's ' A Rose For Emily '

In “A Rose for Emily”, Charles Faulkner used a series of flashbacks and foreshadowing to tell Miss Emily’s story. Miss Emily is an interesting character, to say the least. In such a short story of her life, as told from the prospective of a townsperson, who had been nearly eighty as Miss Emily had been, in order to tell the story from their own perspective. Faulkner set up the story in Mississippi, in a world he knew of in his own lifetime. Inspired by a southern outlook that had been touched by the Civil War memory, the touch of what we would now look at as racism, gives the southern aroma of the period. It sets up Miss Emily’s southern belle status and social standing she had been born into, loner or not.

“Alive, Miss Emily had been a tradition, a duty, and a care; a sort of hereditary obligation upon the town” (Faulkner 1). Emily, a member of the town’s elite class, relied upon her father when growing up and after his death, she refused to pay her taxes, stating that her father contributed much to society. But it was evident that she didn’t pay them because of a lack of maturity - financially and socially. When she was younger she pushes herself onto Homer Barron, a Northerner with no interest in marriage. Throughout the story, Emily is conflicted over societal change, and clings to her privileged manner even after finding herself in poverty. Yet, she becomes involved with a man from a lower social class, and a Northerner as well - hinting that he has different beliefs and values. The townspeople, however, believe the relationship it too modern when there is a possibility they are having physical relations despite not being serious about marriage. The community’s inability to commit to progress, contribute to the confused Emily’s decision. In A Rose for Emily, Faulkner uses the symbolism of Emily’s house and her hair to demonstrate her emotional instability and physical deterioration, illustrating the outcome of his story.

William Faulkner once said, The article describes the fate of a southern town after the American Civil War. As the patriarch of the family, Emily's father leaned heavily to maintain the rank and dignity so he drove all the courtship to love Emily and deprived her of her right to happiness. After the death of her father, Emily fell in love with a foreman northerner that was building the railway for the town. But Emily still did not get rid of the shackles of family dignity and her father's influence on her approach. When she found that Homer Barron had no intention to marry her, she poisoned him with arsenic. Since then, Emily closed herself in the old house, and lived with his dead father for 40 years, until she died. The town residents found the secret at the funeral of Emily. William Faulkner is a pivotal figure in the history of American literature, known as the head of the Southern Renaissance and the leader of the Southern literature. "A Rose for Emily" is Faulkner's most classic short story. In this novel, Faulkner used a symbolic, like rose, Emily and the shadow of father, to reveal the contradictions and conflicts between the American old-age cultural minds and the northern industrial civilization after the civil war. He shaped a fallen southern aristocratic lady “Emily “in the tragedy of personal and social, realistic and traditional tragedy.

Miss Emily is also decaying, but it is subtle and internal--the awful smell that begins to permeate from her dwelling is a reflection of the withering woman within rotting. Perhaps most tragically, Miss Emily’s isolation is far from self-inflicted. Her blind devotion to the ones she loves; her father, her husband, her home; only serves to further condemn her actions. Her neighbors disregard toward her inabilty to let go of her father after his death, despite the delicacy of her being, caused for her madness to fester. “She told them her father was not dead.

Although Emily is the main subject of the tale, Faulkner's description of the community's reaction toward her funeral, elevates the town as the truer subject. Also after reading this passage we are shown for the first time that Emily is viewed in the community as an object, a monument perhaps and this is where her person hood is lost. The town almost refers to her as a thing instead of as an individual. Another example, that shows Miss Emily as something other than human comes in the third paragraph as she is described as "a tradition, a duty, and a care".

In the short story A Rose for Emily written by William Faulkner, readers are immersed in the narrative of a supposed town member who describes the impact that the recent death of an old woman has had upon their small community. In the narrative, readers are taken on a journey through the life of Miss Emily, an old, lonely woman who is seemingly frozen in her own timeframe. As the story unfolds, readers learn about the various tragedies Emily encountered in her lifetime such as the sudden death of her controlling father as well as her alienation from other family members that leaves her utterly alone following his death. Audiences also learn about events that happened throughout Emily’s life that both molded her as a person and aided in shaping her reputation around the town. From her controversial relationship with a construction worker named Homer Barron to her suspicious purchase of arsenic at the local drug store, there is no question that Emily lived under the constant scrutiny of her fellow townspeople. After reading the initial sentences, it can be concurred that this story doesn’t simply describe the life of an old, questionably insane woman, but also the story of the age-old battle between old and new. Through symbolism and an artful arrangement of the events described, Faulkner is able to meticulously weave a tale of the clash between newer and older generations’ views and standards.

In “A Rose for Emily”, William Faulkner uses symbolism, imagery, simile and tone. Faulkner uses these elements to lead his characters to an epiphany of letting go of out-dated traditions and customs. The resistance to change and loneliness are prominent themes within “A Rose for Emily”. Faulkner uses “A Rose for Emily” to caution his readers that things are not always what they appear to be.

Emily was kept confined from all that surrounded her. Her father had given the town folks a large amount of money which caused Emily and her father to feel superior to others. “Grierson’s held themselves a little too high for what they really were” (Faulkner). Emily’s attitude had developed as a stuck-up and stubborn girl and her father was to blame for this attitude. Emily was a normal

“A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner is a melancholic depiction of a woman’s isolated life that ended tragically. Faulkner explores the complexities of social expectations and the human mind through the character of Emily Grierson. Emily becomes a symbol of the loneliness that can come from holding on to tradition, mental illness, and opposing change in a rapidly evolving world. Examining Emily’s character in “A Rose for Emily,” it is clear that her solitude, mental deterioration, and rejection of social norms played a significant role in her tragic outcome. Emily lived an isolated life, refusing most social contact and holding tight to her father’s traditions.

A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner is located in Jefferson, a small Southern town during the post- Civil War era. The story revolves around the eccentric and catastrophic events of Miss Emily Grierson’s life. At a first look, Miss Emily seems like a lonely woman with little self-confidence and low self-esteem, which is due from her father’s upbringing. There had to be some kind of neglect by her father because he made her lived such a sheltered life. He made her think that nobody was good enough for her and he even turned her away from his own family. From beginning to end, Emily turned into quite an odd character due to this type of sheltered life.

Her father, before his death, had been the one to create and feed the insatiable hunger for control that sprouts within Emily. He held a controlling grip on every aspect of her life down to the people she was able to be with. Everyone in town “remembered all the young men her father had driven away” (Faulkner 311) stripping her of the ability to marry of surround herself with anyone who would potentially care for her. At the age of thirty she is mocked for still being single, “When she got to be thirty and was still single, we were… vindicated.” (Faulkner 311) the townspeople felt her loneliness was deserved, but they failed to realize that she had no control over this. After his death, Emily refuses to admit that her father has died “[clinging] to that which had robbed her,” (Faulkner 311) unable to accept that the only person in her life is gone and she is now alone. She is unable to cope with the sudden lack of a patriarch in her life, thus taking on the role of the patriarch as the story progresses.

Over time, the rapid social change and sternness of Emily's father changes her personality into dark isolation. The driving away of young adult lovers of Emily by her father cause Emily to constantly feel sadness and alone. After a while, she clings to this loneliness and embraces her father, thinking he could be the only man for her. For example, when Miss Emily's father dies, she insists that "he was not dead" and officials "almost had to resort to law and force until she suddenly broke down" (Beers and Odell 724). This proves the stern character of her father causes Emily to hold on to the only thing she has left in her world. The theme of Isolation starts after the passing of her father and when society starts to change. Moreover, Faulkner explains that Miss Emily has an issue with accepting free postal relievers by "refusing the to let them fasten the metal numbers above her door and attach a mailbox to it" (Beers and Odell 723). Faulkner suggests that Emily resents the idea of new technology, and she wants to distance herself from society. In his essay, Sherting argues that Emily’s “behavior clearly shows that the death of her father was a piece of reality disavowed by her ego” (400). In turn, the way Miss Emily views the world before her father’s death and after changes her outlook on life. Throughout the rest of the story, character change proves an important writing point by

Although many would say that the author was trying to convey (emotion) to the reader, however, it seems to some that the author was more likely to pity her.

In William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” the story is revolved around the character Emily Grierson. The story is told by the townspeople where Emily lives. These people are attending her funeral and pitching in memories and tales they remember from Emily’s life. It is through the collective voices and opinions of the crowd that the reader is able to interpret Emily’s struggles. With Emily Grierson’s choices the reader can tell that she is a dependant woman, with psychotic tendencies, and does not take the thought of change and rejection lightly.

The man chose a partner for his daughter by himself, and his censoriousness made her an old spinster, as “she got to be thirty and was still single” (Faulkner 4). The situation could change after the father’s death, but it did not happen because of combination of social factors. People believed they should feel pity for a woman, who has never been married in her thirties. This approach for commiseration deprived Emily from last opportunities to find a partner among citizens. The woman, who was behaved as a member of the high society, could not to stomach people’s readiness for the “joyous pity”. Citizens believed Grierson should become someone’s wife, like every woman, and destroyed her chances for marriage at the same