Physical Description Of Emily In Faulkner's A Rose For Emily

In “A Rose for Emily” the physical description that the authors gives of Emily goes along with the storyline. The author does this to help the reader understand what is going on in her life. Her appearance is constantly changing throughout the story as different things are going on in her life. He wants to show that when people go through tough times in life they can change in many ways just like Emily does. By giving the reader different clues about Emily to pick up on during the story the author is telling the reader what is going on in her life by giving a description of her. Understanding how Emily’s appearance is related to what is going on is important to understand what is going on throughout her life. For example, when he father died

She is described as, “still a light woman, though thinner than usual, with cold, haughty black eyes in a face the flesh of which was strained across the temples and about the eyesockets as you imagine a lighthouse-keeper’s face out to look” (Faulkner 2). She looks like she is planning something evil. The way the author describes her supports that she is beginning to go crazy. Due to depression, Emily did not leave her house a lot because she did not want to be around anyone. After she poisoned and killed her husband she is seen for the “last time.” The author describes Emily as, “she has grown fat and her hair was turning gray. During the next few years it grew grayer and grayer until it attained an even pepper-and-salt iron-grey” (Faulkner 4). She was beginning to not care about what anyone thinks about her anymore. The only person that she needed to impress is now dead, so she has no reason to care. Emily is going through a lot during the story. She has both happiness and sadness. The author shows the readers her emotions by giving a physical description of her. The description of her also helps the reader go along with the storyline. The emotions that Emily is going through are emotions that people go through