Analysis of the Short Story "A Rose for Emily"

The reason I chose to analyze “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner is because I am a lover of suspense and terror. The story totally caught my attention because the general tone is one of violence, gloom, and terror. The setting also plays an important role because it gives the reader a better understanding of the different situations. The main character, Emily, plays the role of a tragic figure that seems to be seen only from the outside. Sometimes people judge others from the outside, but they do not realize about the inside of the person. In the story, Emily is constantly judged by the townspeople because of her physical appearance, but they do not understand what she is going through emotionally. Another important character in the story is “Homer Baron” who plays an important role because he becomes Miss Emily’s lover. Moreover, the story is divided into five sections made up of several suspenseful events. Many speculations are made by different literary critics regarding Emily’s character; her lover “Homer Baron”; the meaning of a hidden watch she had in her pocket regarding her progress in life as time passed by; and the setting of the story.

Miss Emily’s character can be described as a stubborn woman. She refuses to pay her taxes, “I have no taxes in Jefferson. Colonel Sartoris explained it to me” (517). After her father’s death she seems to have lost track of reality, “The day after his death all the ladies prepared to call at the house and offer condolence and aid, as is our custom. Miss Emily met them at the door, dressed as usual and with no trace of grief on her face. She told them that her father was not dead. She did that for three days…” (518). Her father had some kind of power over her regarding her relatio...

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...of violence and terror. Miss Emily portrays the role of a tragic figure. Her father’s death seems to have affected her and made her lose track of reality. There were many reasons why she was like she was. The townspeople were always criticizing her because they would just see her appearance, but no one really knew what she was going through on the inside.

Works Cited

Akers, Donald. "A Rose for Emily." Short Stories for Students. Detroit: Gale, 2002. Literature Resource Center. Web. 12 Nov. 2013.

Schwab, Milinda. "A Watch For Emily." Studies in Short Fiction 28.2 (1991): 215. MasterFILE Complete. Web. 11 Nov. 2013.

Wallace, James M. "Faulkner's A Rose for Emily." Explicator 50.2 (1992): 105. MasterFILE Complete. Web. 11 Nov. 2013.

Faulkner, William. ""A Rose for Emily"" The Norton Introduction to Literature. 11th ed. N.p.: W W Norton & Co, 2013. 516-22. Print.