1. - Theme.
2. - Conflicts, tensions and ambiguity.
3. -Symbolism.
4. - Narrative elements: point of view, tone and narrative structure.
1. - Theme.
The main theme of the Faulkner's short story is the relationship between the past and present in Emily Grierson, the protagonist. She did not accept the passage of time throughout all her life, keeping everything she loved in the past with her.
The story shows Emily's past and her family story. This information explains her behaviour towards time. Firstly, her father's lack of desire to move on into the future and his old-fashioned ways kept Emily away from the changing society and away from any kind of social relationship:
"None of the young men were quite good enough for Miss
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The family of Emily, the Griersons, was a very influential and important family in Jefferson. The townspeople seem to obey a certain hierarchy within which Emily was highly placed.
"Alive, Miss Emily had been a tradition, a duty, and a care; a sort of hereditary obligation upon the town" (pp. 119)
However, she was the centre of furious gossip in the entire town especially when her relationship with Homer Barron started.
Despite the assumption that Emily was "a tradition, a duty, and a care", when Homer disappeared, the whole city knew that she was mentally insane because of her isolation, but no citizen tried to help her just because they thought greatly of her.
A conflictive episode of "A Rose for Emily" occurs when Emily bought arsenic from the druggist. He surely knew that she was insane and she would kill herself. Nevertheless, with very few words Emily persuaded him to sell her the arsenic, using her powerful reputation.
"`I want arsenic.'
The druggist looked down at her. She looked back at him, erect, her face like a strained flag. `Why, of course', the druggist said. `If that's what you want. But the law requires you to tell what you are going to use it for'.
Miss Emily just stared at him, her head tilted back in order to look him eye for eye, until he looked away and went and got the arsenic and wrapped it up." (pp. 125-126)
The druggist seems to be prepared to ignore the laws to satisfy Miss Emily.
The dignity
An important idiosyncrasy of Emily's that will help the reader to understand the bizarre finale of the story, is her apparent inability to cope with the death of someone she cared for. When deputies were sent to recover back taxes from Emily, she directed them to Colonel Sartoris, an ex-mayor that had told her she would never have to pay taxes, and a man that had been dead for ten years. Years before this incident, however, after her father had died, she continued to act has if he had not, and only allowed his body to be removed when threatened with legal action. Considering the fate of her lover's corpse, one suspects she would have kept her father's corpse also, had the town not known of his death.
In “A Rose for Emily," by William Faulkner, the main character Emily Grierson is stuck living in the past within the isolated reality that she’s been forced into and that she herself created. Throughout the story, a major theme, (meaning what the story is about) is Emily’s resistance to change which leads to isolation. This Faulkner classic shows us how Emily became isolated because of her families, community and tradition.
Grierson was very overprotective of Emily. No man was good enough for her. Mr. Grierson would chase away any suitors that were interested in Emily. “ We remembered all the young men her father had driven away, and we knew that with nothing left, she would have to cling to that which had robbed her, as people will”(Faulkner, 81).This led her to become alone. Mr. Grierson was to blame for all her loneness. Her father was the only person she had basically. According to Emily she did not have to pay taxes because of an agreement her father and Cornel Sartoris. Sartoris had also had firsthand experience of feminism in his early life.” Abner runs the household with wooden deliberations. His hands “knotted”(363)like wood, strike Sarty again and again. He yells at his girls and forces them to work like servants.(Faulkner, Barn Burning) After his death, Emily could not bear the fact that her father was dead. When they tried to pick up the body she said he wasn’t
In “A Rose for Emily”, William Faulkner uses imagery and symbolism to both illustrate and strengthen the most prevalent theme; Emily’s resistance to change. William Faulkner seems to reveal this theme through multiple descriptions of Miss Grierson’s actions, appearance, and her home. Throughout the short story it is obvious that Emily has a hard time letting go of her past, she seems to be holding onto every bit of her past. Readers see this shown in several ways, some more obvious than others.
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
Emily’s behavior takes another dramatic strange twist when she visits the druggist and requests some poison. The druggist asked Miss Emily “What kind? For rats and such?” (33). to which Emily responds “I want the best one you have. I don’t care what kind” (33). It is at this point that we truly begin to question if Miss Emily has foul intentions.
Some may think that the druggist whom she asked the arsenic from did not play an important part in this story. However, although Miss Emily did not have much contact with him, he is
We are able to find some possible answers in the writing A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner. The composition includes five parts that tell us short episodes about Emily Grierson’s life and if we can read between the lines, perhaps we get answers and explanations, how could the outside facts, like her father’s influence, manipulate the decisions, ideology and the life of a people. This essay will explain the role of Mr. Grierson in her daughter, Emily’s life.
As an image of decrepit grandeur, Miss Emily’s house is used to symbolize Miss Emily’s character herself, the historical setting in which the story takes place, and some of the story’s central themes. Described as “a big, squarish frame house that had once been white, decorates with cupolas and spires and scrolled balconies” (Faulkner 1), the house is ornate and grand in design, even being located on what was once an exclusive street in Jefferson. However, over time, it had become dilapidated and unkempt, with the interior being dark and full of dust, possessing “a close, dank smell” (Faulkner 1). Similarly, Miss Emily was once a young lady of high standing, opulent in her own ways, but slowly aged and lost her grandeur, becoming “a small, fat woman” (Faulkner 1) whose hair was turning grayer as the days went by. Much like her home, Miss Emily was losing her charm over time, showing that her character was stubbornly grasping on to the idea that she still retained an image of splendor she no longer possessed, all while isolating herself from the rest of the town.
Emily Grierson, the only remaining member of the upper class Grierson family refuses to leave the past behind her even as the next generation begins to take over. Miss Emily becomes so caught up in the way
In William Faulkner's short story "A Rose for Emily," a series of interconnected events collectively represent a single theme in the story. Symbolism is the integral factor involved in understanding the theme. "A Rose for Emily's" dominant theme is the search for love and security, a basic human need which can be met unfavorably in equivocal environments. Faulkner's use of symbolism profoundly develops the theme of the story, bringing to light the issues of morality that arise from a young woman's struggle to find love.
It is believed that she would want to keep Homer Barron for herself, like a prize or trophy, and even though her father believed that no one would ever be good enough for her, Homer could never be hers because of his interests in young men. So, Emily would, devise a plan to murder Homer, she feared that should would be left alone again and allowing the townspeople to believe the two are married. The acts committed by Emily are comparable to those of Jeffery Dahmer in that he kept his victims as trophies. According to Encyclopedia
Miss Emily was part of the highly revered Grierson family, the aristocrats of the town. They held themselves to a higher standard, and nothing or
If Miss Emily could be the narrator of “A Rose for Emily”, her motives and thoughts would be more obvious. When she is buying the arsenic, the druggist tells her, “‘… the law requires you to tell what you are
with no one save her servant. This caretaking of Emily by the town shows the opinion of