How the Theme is Developed “A Rose for Emily”

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The theme is describe as being a piece of works controlling idea or central insight. When trying to find a theme is a short story or novel, we as the reader must determine what the central purpose is, or in other words, what the author wanted us to get out of the story (Arp 102). In William Faulkners short story, “A Rose for Emily”, the theme is horror.
In “A Rose for Emily” the story started out with the narrator telling about the time of Miss Emily death and how the whole town attended her funeral in her house. Emily’s house has had no visitors in over ten years. Her neighborhood was once very nice, but Emily’s house is the last one left. Colonel Sartoris, the town’s mayor at the time, had suspended Emily’s taxes town after her father’s death. As the new town leaders take over, they make unsuccessful attempts to get Emily to resume payments. When members of the board visit her, Emily insists the fact that she is not required to pay taxes and that the officials should talk to Colonel Sartoris about the matter. However, Colonel Satoris has been dead for almost a ten years. Thirty years earlier the town leaders inquire about Miss Emily when the townspeople detects an odor coming from her house. Judge Stevens, the mayor at the time, decides to have lime sprinkled along the foundation of the home. The odor eventual subsides. After her father’s death, the women of the town call Emily to offer their condolences. Emily tells them that her father is not dead, and believes that for three days. After finally breaking down, she releases her father’s body over for burial. The summer after her father’s death, the town contracts workers to pave the sidewalks. They were under the direction Homer Barron. Homer soon becomes a popular person in t...

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...e, “Theme is the central and unifying concept of a story,” (Arp 108). Theme is developed throughout the story with details. This means that while some stories do not have a theme, most do. It is also different for each person. Theme is merely a view of life. For “A Rose for Emily” I found the theme to be a Horror, while someone else may think it’s a psychological break of a person. When trying to find a theme or understanding theme, just trust what you feel.

Works Cited

Arp, Thomas R. . "Chapter 4: Theme." Perrine's Story and Structure. . Reprint. Orlando: Christopher P. Klein, 1998. . Print.
Brooks, Cleanth, and Robert Penn Warren. "Chapter 4: What Theme Reveals." Understanding Fiction. . Reprint. New Jersey: Prentice- Hall , 1979. . Print.
Faulkner, William . "A Rose for Emily." Fiction 100. . Reprint. New Jersey: Pearson Education, 2012. . Print.

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