Rose For Emily

The Elements of a Short Story

Strongest short stories have detailed settings, engaging plot, creative characters, a noticeable conflict, and lastly a dramatic theme. Because a short story is shorter than a novel, the author has less time to develop these five elements. Therefore, when an author, such as William Faulkner, incorporates these into his story and develops their strength, he has created a great piece of work. William Faulkner concisely constructs “A Rose for Emily” using the five essential elements required to be considered a short story, he uses these elements equally to contribute to its development.

The Grierson’s home in Jefferson, MS is an integral to the setting in this story. Settings vary in different stories however,

A character is the way individual characters are represented by the narrator or author of a text. This includes descriptions of the characters’ physical appearances, personalities, actions, interactions, and dialogue. Emily’s character remains stagnant during the story, she refuses to change with the times even though the town has changed around her. Emily is described by the townspeople as “a tradition, a duty” and “a fallen monument” people believed her family “held themselves a little too high for what they really were”. Emily was once very beautiful, just like a rose. But like a rose, beauty wilts, fades and dies in time. Emily’s character makes a conscious decision not to change and closes herself off to the world around her. This refusal to change leads to conflict between Emily and others in the

Without conflict the story will become stagnant and boring for the reader. All the conflicts in this short story involve Emily and her problems with the townspeople, Homer, and the authority. In most short stories the conflict surrounding the main character generally leads to the climax of the story. In “A Rose for Emily” conflict occurs between Emily and the authority, when she refuses to pay taxes and hang her mailbox. This belief that she is above the law, leads to conflict with the towns people. They constantly gossiped and pitied her, which made her desperate for a relationship. The desire for companionship ended with her final conflict, Homer. Since the climax involved Homer, the reader can conclude that this is the most important conflict in this story. The climax occurred at the very end of the story, with the discovery of Homer’s body. Emily clung to Homer because she was lonely and couldn’t get over her father’s death, unfortunately he did not have the same feelings for her, which ended badly for him. Even though Emily appears to be tough, the ongoing loneliness she feels is