A Rose For Emily

2 Pages 515 Words

“A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner is a remarkable story of a Miss Emily Grierson, who at the beginning of the story is deceased and her funeral drew the attention of the entire population of a small southern town named Jefferson. An unnamed narrator suggests that the narration were done in the 3rd Person Omniscient. This narrator, who somewhat is considered to be “the town” or at least the collaborative voice of it, aligns key moments in Emily’s life, including the death of her father and her brief and weird relationship with Homer Barron, a man from the north.
The story basically addresses the symbolic changes in the South after the civil war, the transition from Old South to New South. The Grierson House symbolizes neglect and the new changes in the town of Jefferson. Beginning with Emily’s funeral, throughout the story Faulkner foreshadows the ending and suspenseful events in Emily’s life, and Emily’s other awaiting circumstances. This story tells the tale of Emily, a young woman who lives and abides by her father’s strict rationale. The rampant symbolism and Faulkner’s descriptions of the decaying house, coincide with Miss Emily’s physical and emotional decay, and so emphasize her mental degeneration, and further illustrate the outcome of Faulkner’s story. Miss Emily’s decaying house, not only lacks genuine love and care, but so does she in her adult life.
Faulkner best uses characterization to examine the theme of the story, too much pride can end in homicidal madness. Miss Emily, the Protagonist of this story, lives for many years as a recluse, someone who has withdrawn from a community to live in seclusion. Faulkner characterizes Emily’s attempt to remove herself from society through her actions. She wouldn’t go out a lot after her sweetheart went away and people hardly saw her at all. The death of her father and the shattered relationship with her sweetheart contributed to her seclusi...