In “A Rose for Emily,” William Faulkner includes multiple situations to foreshadow the short story’s ending when Homer Barron’s decomposed corpse is discovered. Faulkner makes it very clear to readers as the short story progresses, by addressing the smell, the poison, and Homer’s disappearance that foreshadow to the discovery of his body in Emily’s house.…
In the story “A Rose for Emily,” Faulkner uses characterization to portray Emily’s mental decline throughout her life. By being kept away from the real world by her father, to being free to venture out after his death to having to keep a murder a secret. Faulkner best characterized Miss Emily as snobby, crazy and secretive.…
William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” is the life story of Miss Emily Grierson. A woman whose life is fraught with tragedy and grief. Strategically told out of order, Miss Emily’s life draws us in, beginning with the end of her life and the opening of her house to the curious townspeople. The “scrambled” telling of this story serves several purposes in enhancing the story’s interest and depth.…
“A Rose for Emily” is a mysterious and unusual short story. William Faulkner creates a character, Miss Emily Grierson, who is so significant to the town that she is referred to as a “fallen monument” after her death. Miss Emily is an eccentric character, and although she physically changes, her character nor her personality do. Miss Emily is a static character, with internal conflicts, and has odd relationships with her boyfriend and husband. For instance, Miss Emily kept her late father's body and refused to give him up, showing an inability to let go. She keeps his body because she also does not want to be isolated, even though she avoids interaction by staying in her home. Miss Emily's isolation is external with society and also resonates…
The house was big. It’s the typical, “seventies style” home on one of the most, “selected streets.” The house use to be, “white (1)” after the death of Emily’s father the house slowly began to fall apart. Emily’s house was the only original house left from the seventies and it had started to decay. It is a tad ironic that the outside of the house is decaying as in the room upstairs a man’s body is also decaying, this is an example as well for the Gothic setting. The fact that the author states the house used to be “white” is important due to the time period the house was built. When Emily’s father was a live the house was well kept and maintained once he passed away the house began to fall apart. As time goes on the house just begins to decay more. The “white” house is no longer “white”, the balcony is falling part. This also helps paint the picture of a Gothic setting because the house is now scary looking. The house is beginning to look “abandoned”, there is a smell of dust and “disuse- a close, dank smell (1)”. The fact that the house has a distinct smell also gives off the Gothic feel. These are examples of the Gothic setting because of the darkness created by the eeriness of the decaying structure of the building. It makes the house look like something out of a horror or supernatural…
“Alive, miss Emily had been a tradition, a duty, and a care; a sort of hereditary obligation upon the town.”(391) The social class and her father fettered not only her behavior but also everything of herself. Without him she could not do anything except stay at home. She had been isolated from the outside world and the people whose social class was lower than theirs. “only Miss Emily's house was left, lifting its stubborn and coquettish decay above the cotton wagons and the gasoline pumps—an eyesore among eyesores.”(391) Her house was on behalf of her personality that she was noble, solitary and traditionally. Emily's decaying appearance matches not only the rotting exterior of the house, but the interior as well. Staying far away from people, gradually, she could not know how to get along with others. Being restricted by her family fame, Emily became much more autistic and did things unusual.…
The characteristics of Miss Emily’s house symbolize her appearance as she becomes decrepit with time and neglect. The house was a beautiful white decorated with gorgeous cupolas, set on what was the best street. Then it became a monstrous monstrosity. Miss Emily changed the same ways as her house did and she too became an eyesore. She had once been a slender figure and later she becomes fat and motionless. During Miss Emily’s death she had been referred to as a fallen monument, which could mean she was once something beautiful and…
In A Rose for Emily, William Faulkner writes a pathetic woman, Miss Emily, to show the true lives of the rich and his frustration with society. Faulkner’s goal of Miss Emily’s alienation shows wealthy people’s lives aren’t perfect and how grief can impact people. To show this goal, the author uses the theme of truth vs. reality. For example, “Being left alone and a pauper, she had become humanized”(2), shows that the town people initially thinking that she is better than everyone else; however after she loses her dad, she becomes more ordinary. Even though the town people think of Emily as an eccentric and haughty Southern belle, they envy her; she’s wealthy and the town people are not. However, since Emily isolates herself from her peers, the town people never see her.…
Emily 's house also represents her downfall. After her father dies the house becomes an eyesore which "smelled of dust and disuse- a close, dark smell" (Faulkner 315), indicating that Emily has let herself go becoming obese and lonely. Emily is also like a fallen monument because she once was a prominent person but now she is decaying. She has too much pride to let anyone know about her pitiful life as "she carried her head high enough- even when we believed that she was fallen. It was if she demanded more than ever the recognition of her dignity as the last Grierson; as if it had wanted that touch of earthiness to reaffirm her imperviousness" (Faulkner…
William Faulkner’s persona in “A Rose for Emily” speaks of the dangers of psychological issues; psychological issues that affect every aspect of life for Emily Grierson. In all actuality, Emily Grierson suffers from anxiety, grief, and psychotic symptoms- this prognosis is supported by Miss Emily Grierson’s sleeping with Homer Baron, a corpse. The theme, or central message, in William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily,” is that people suffer from psychological and psychotic issues but some go undiagnosed and untreated.…
Emily’s house that is very similar to her is a structure of a memorial, the only remaining of a symbolic representation of the past. The house “It was a big, squarish frame house that had once been white, decorated with cupolas and spires and scrolled balconies in the heavily lightsome style of the seventies, set on what had once been our most select street. But garages and cotton gins had encroached and obliterated even the august names of that neighborhood; only Miss Emily’s house was left, lifting its stubborn and coquettish decay above the cotton wagons and the gasoline pumps-an eyesore among eyesores (pg204). The house is an extension of Emily. It is a tradition but now it’s out of place because of the society that has changed around her. The house, like its owner, is an object of interest for them. They create their own interpretations of the inside of Emily’s torn down house.…
There are a few denotative meanings of the noun “house.” One well-known meaning is, “a dwelling place for one or more persons, especially a family.” It can also mean to some people “family.” The house is a symbol of how Emily with time has become old and more decrepit because of the neglect for herself. Faulkner states, “It was a big, squarish frame house that had once been white, decorated with cupolas and spires and scrolled balconies in the heavily lightsome style of the seventies, set on what had once been or most select street” (90). Emily used to be very beautiful in her youth but with time she became less and less of an important figure in her town because she stopped taking care of herself. Faulkner goes on to describe the house as the, “eyesore among eyesores” (90). Emily became exactly like her house; she became an eyesore to the people of the town because of her neglect to herself. Faulkner describes her in her prime as having a slender figure but later describes her as, “bloated, like a body long submerged in motionless water with eyes lost in the fatty ridges of her face” (91).…
“A Rose for Emily” is a Southern Gothic story since the themes of murder and death are present. Throughout the story, the Faulkner describes Emily as lonely. “She looked bloated, like a body long submerged in motionless water, and of that pallid hue. Her eyes, lost in the fatty ridges of her face, looked like two small pieces of coal pressed into a lump of dough.”(Faulkner). When Emily goes into the store and buys poison this leads the readers to believe that something bad is going to happen. The ending of the story also makes it Gothic. Emily secret is revealed that she has had a dead corpse in her house for several years. Emily also slept with the corpse a long grey hair was found next to Homers decaying body. The Gothic elements help give this story a gloomy and creepy tone.…
In “A Rose for Emily”, the narrator begins the story by letting us know that Miss Emily Grierson has died and that she had not been seen in at least ten years. As the narrator continues to describe the house and it’s location as being located on, “which had once been our most select street,” is now encroached and obliterated by garages and cotton gins, it is undoubtedly obvious that the narrator’s goal was to depict Miss Emily Grierson as one who has been living in seclusion in avoidance of a seemingly changing world. The narrator later goes on to say, “only Miss Emily’s house was left, lifting its stubborn and coquettish decay above the cotton wagons and the gasoline pumps – an eyesore among eyesores.” I felt that this description of Miss Emily’s house as being one of stubborn decay was more so a description of Miss Emily herself than the house.…
e are defined by our past experiences, individuals are ever-changing based on our beliefs and experiences throughout our lives. William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” depicts the transformation of Emily. A young women who was originally a young and vibrant women, gradually transitions into a secluded and sympathized character. This is a symbol of her family’s history of mental illness, which she in turn inherited and ultimately affects her as her life progresses. Homer Barron’s close resemblance to Emily’s father, an unwillingness to let people go, and her isolation from the world which resulted in subsequent loneliness all point towards the argument that Emily’s mental illness is what lead to her killing Homer Barron.…