Symbolism in literature is using an object to portray a different, deeper meaning in a story. Symbols represent ideas or qualities that the author has manipulated into their story that have meaning. It is up to the reader to interpret the meaning of the symbols and their significance to the story. William Faulkner wrote “A Rose for Emily,” which was published 30 April 1930. He used a great deal of symbolism in this story. Faulkner’s use of symbolism captivates the reader until the shocking end of the story. There are several different symbols in this story, such as the Griersons house, Emily herself, dust, a rose and Miss Emily’s hair. In many different ways, symbolism offers a deep and essential perception of the story of “A Rose for Emily.” …show more content…
Getty discusses the title and the reason behind it; also say that the only rose Emily actually receives is the one Faulkner gave to her (Getty). She was isolated most of her life only to be loved by her father. It appears to the people of Jefferson that Emily might have finally found her rose when Homer Barron, a pavement construction worker, comes into town and starts a relationship with Miss Emily. The townspeople thought they were going to get married when Miss Emily purchased “a man's toilet set in silver, with the letters H.B. on each piece" (313) and "a complete outfit of men's clothing, including a nightshirt" (313). Homer disappeared for a couple of weeks, when he came back, he was seen entering Emily’s house late at night but he is never seen leaving the house. Emily realized Homer was not going to stick around and marry her so she poisoned him. This action is used as a symbol as if she is poisoning her rose, the love of her life. Another view on the rose could be that roses are thorny for protection or, being dangerous just as Emily keeps people at a distance. Emily’s behavior and isolated lifestyle do not allow the people of Jefferson to get close to her. The only person that was close to Miss Emily died at her hand, which put blood on her hand. Blood is red like the petal of roses. Roses have a very strong aroma and sometimes are used by funeral homes to …show more content…
When her father died, she becomes ill and doesn’t go into public very much, and when she finally appears “[H]er hair was cut short, making her look like a girl, with a vague resemblance to those angels in colored church windows--sort of tragic and serene” (312). Then after the disappearance of Homer, she is seen with gray hair. Faulkner says, “When we next saw Miss Emily, she had 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-gray, when it ceased turning” (314). This could be from the stress of killing Homer and keeping his decaying body boarded up in the bedroom on the second floor of her home. At the end of the story, Faulkner writes “Then we noticed that in the second pillow was the indentation of a head. One of us lifted something from it and leaning forward, that faint and invisible dust dry and acrid in the nostrils, we saw a long strand of iron-gray hair” (316). A gray hair is found on the pillow beside Homer Barron’s decaying body this indicates that Miss Emily has been sleeping beside the corpse of Homer. There was also an indentation, which could mean she has not just laid there once or twice. This shows the townspeople just how disturbed and damaged Miss Emily really
Emily then sets out to fulfill the ultimate form of the rose dream, that of marriage. She purchases "a man's toilet set in silver, with the letters H.B. on each piece"(Faulkner 77) and "a complete outfit of men's clothing, including a nightshirt"(Faulkner 77). However, Homer disappears when his work is through, leaving Emily once again without a rose. Within a couple of weeks Homer, is seen entering Emily's house late at night. Emily realizes that Homer has no plans to stay, so she demonstrates her love the only way she knows how, by killing him. In her own way, she forces Homer to love her and to stay with her. In doing so, Emily's rose wilts forever.
William Faulkner’s "A Rose for Emily" is perhaps his most famous and most anthologized short story. From the moment it was first published in 1930, this story has been analyzed and criticized by both published critics and the causal reader. The well known Literary critic and author Harold Bloom suggest that the story is so captivating because of Faulkner’s use of literary techniques such as "sophisticated structure, with compelling characterization, and plot" (14). Through his creative ability to use such techniques he is able to weave an intriguing story full of symbolism, contrasts, and moral worth. The story is brief, yet it covers almost seventy five years in the life of a spinster named Emily Grierson. Faulkner develops the character Miss Emily and the events in her life to not only tell a rich and shocking story, but to also portray his view on the South’s plight after the Civil War. Miss Emily becomes the canvas in which he paints the customs and traditions of the Old South or antebellum era. The story “A Rose For Emily” becomes symbolic of the plight of the South as it struggles to face change with Miss Emily becoming the tragic heroin of the Old South.
In “A Rose for Emily” Emily's father is overprotective and gives up on the idea of any man being good enough for his daughter, keeping her from finding true love and living her own life. It is a story of loneliness, feelings of being controlled, and depression. Until after her father's death, Emily, left with nothing but their home, that seems to symbolize the old south itself as it "had once been white, decorated with cupolas and spires and scrolled balconies.” Emily refuses to accept the fact of her father's passing. Soon enough, Emily meets Homer Barron, a man holding a temporary contract to work in the town. Several town members notice the time Emily and Homer spend together and assume they will marry with no hesitation. As time goes by, nobody has seen Ho...
Kurtz, Elizabeth Carney. "Faulkner's 'A Rose for Emily'". Explicator. Heldref Publications. 44.2 (1986): 40. Academic Search Complete. Blinn College, Bryan, Lib. 18 Oct. 2007
William Faulkner takes us back in time with his Gothic short story known as, “A Rose for Emily.” Almost every sentence gives a new piece of evidence to lead the reader to the overall theme of death, isolation, and trying to maintain traditions. The reader can conclude the theme through William Faulkner’s use of literary devices such as his choice of characters, the setting, the diction, the tone, and the plot line.
The story is written in a unique way as the perspective comes from the townspeople looking in at Miss Emily Grierson's life. The story also shifts to different points in Emily's life not in a chronological manner. A Rose for Emily begins with the townspeople attending Miss Emily's funeral. The sole purpose for the townspeople coming out to the funeral was to see the inside of Miss Emily's house. Miss Emily's and the town had a very special arrangement in which Miss Emily would not have to pay taxes. Over time the leadership of the town changed and dispute arouses on whether or not she should pay taxes, despite the town's effort Miss Emily refused to pay the taxes. Many years before the townspeople smelled a terrible smell coming from Miss Emily's home, instead of confronting Miss Emily about if they decided to sprinkle lime around the house until it went away (Faulkner100). She has trouble grieving for her father when he dies and denies that he is dead for a few days. After the death of her father Emily begins to date Homer Barron who is in town working. The town does not accept the life that Emily is living, but she is seen buying arsenic so the townspeople assume that she is going to kill herself. The last time that Homer is seen is when he enters the home of Miss Emily. "A neighbor saw the Negro man admit him to the kitchen door at dusk one evening."(Faulkner1002). Many years pass and Emily ages and she becomes a hermit in her home. The story finishes at her funeral, afterward, the townspeople go into Miss Emily's house and find the corpse of Homer Barron on a bed with an indentation of a body next to him with gray hair on the pillow (Faulkner1004). Emily was faced with the pressures of society and the trust issues that come with relationships. To combat them she killed Homer run from possible pain in the relationship and then she became a hermit to isolate herself from the townspeople and their judgment.
Emily said this for three days which indicates she was living in the past and didn't want to come to terms that her father was dead, this shows Emily’s inability to decipher the past from the present. Emily continued to treat Homer Barron as if he were alive, even though he was dead. When the ladies walked into Emily’s house, they found a “suit, carefully folded” and a collar and tie that looked as if they had “just been removed.” Her grooming Homer after him being dead shows her confusion between the past and the present, this is shown more by the fact that she slept with his dead corpse.
In the story, A Rose for Emily, the townspeople gather around to mourn the death of Miss Emily Grierson. As they gather each person reminisce memories of the woman, whether they were good or bad. Emily Grierson was a settled young lady who lived with an over powering father and quiet servant. Emily was never allowed to date or fancy a man because her father would keep her captive and secluded from any relations. On the day of the father’s death, Emily could not let her father go; therefore she kept her father with her for three days, in denial that he had passed. Time went on and Miss Emily decided it was time for a change. Miss Emily crossed paths with a man by the name of Homer Barron. He was an upstate Yankee worker who was on a job nearby the Grierson home. The townspeople were disappointed because of the Grierson name. According to them, they believed that Emily would never fall for Barron. They were wrong. After a while of going out and having fun, Homer was never seen again. Miss Emily would be seen buying odd items for marriage which made the
At the beginning of the story when her father died, it was mentioned that “[Emily] told [the ladies in town] that her father was not dead. She did that for three days, with the ministers calling on her, and the doctors, trying to persuade her to let them dispose of the body” (626). Faulkner reveals Emily’s dependency on her father through the death of her father. As shown in this part of the story, Emily was very attached to her father and was not able to accept that fact that he was no longer around. She couldn’t let go of the only man that loved her and had been with her for all those years. While this may seem like a normal reaction for any person who has ever lost a loved one, Faulkner emphasizes Emily’s dependence and attachment even further through Homer Barron. After her father’s death, Emily met a man name Homer, whom she fell in love with. While Homer showed interest in Emily at the beginning he became uninterested later on. “Homer himself had remarked—he liked men” (627) which had caused Emily to become devastated and desperate. In order to keep Homer by her side, Emily decided to poison Homer and keep him in a bedroom in her home. It was clear that she was overly attached to Homer and was not able to lose another man that she
She could not handle it. The stress began to take a toll on her not only mentally but physically. “She was sick for a long time. When we saw her again, her hair was cut short, making her look like a girl with vague resemblance to those angels in colored church windows, sort of tragic and serene (Faulkner).” This loneliness was changing her. “When we next saw Miss Emily, she had grown fat and her hair was turning gray (Faulkner).” She began changing even more as time passed on and the loneness grew stronger. We can only imagine the way she felt. Losing a father, then losing the only man she had ever loved. She held on tight to Homer even after he was gone. She held onto love even though it was gone. The townspeople pitied her when they found Homer’s body locked away in the room and when they saw the hair resting on the imprint of a head on the pillow beside him. She found love and compassion in a man that she had never found in her father. Everyone pitied Emily, but she never knew the feeling of truly being loved. Her dad showed a deep cruelty towards her no compassion or fatherly love. Her mother was never spoken of so we assume she was not around. Never once did we hear of a brother or sister, so no love of a sibling. She never once had a friend, a husband, or any kids. She never experienced any of the things that a woman strives for in life. Every woman should express sympathy for her in the most extreme way. [Faulkner himself sheds interesting
Symbolism is used many times in the story of, “A Rose for Emily”. There are different symbols including the house, as well as, Miss Emily and her role as a monument. There are very different symbolisms and meanings that offer different insights into the meaning of the story, “A Rose For Emily”. Emily is made in comparison to the home, which is decaying because of the the inattentiveness and neglect that has taken over the home. There are many emotional and mental issues that are displayed in the home as well.
Faulkner uses symbolism to help bring out the main points in the story itself and also uses this symbolism to show how Emily is an allegory for the changes in the South during the time of the Civil War. By using the symbols of the rose meaning love or silence, or the hair meaning that over time things change, or even the house, being set back in the old times of the Civil War, symbolism is shown many ways throughout this short story. William Faulkner wrote "A Rose for Emily," in a way where the reader is able to comprehend and interpret the main points in the story in a different way as to where they will be able to look deeper within the meaning of each part of the story rather than having a dull meaning behind everything.
The theme of "A Rose for Emily" by William Faulkner is that people should let go of the past, moving on with the present so that they can prepare to welcome their future. Emily was the proof of a person who always lived on the shadow of the past; she clung into it and was afraid of changing. The first evident that shows to the readers right on the description of Grierson's house "it was a big, squarish frame house that had once been white, decorated with cupolas and spires and scrolled balconies in the heavily lightsome style of the seventies, set on what had once been our most select street." The society was changing every minutes but still, Emily's house was still remained like a symbol of seventieth century. The second evident show in the first flashback of the story, the event that Miss Emily declined to pay taxes. In her mind, her family was a powerful family and they didn't have to pay any taxes in the town of Jefferson. She even didn't believe the sheriff in front of her is the "real" sheriff, so that she talked to him as talk to the Colonel who has died for almost ten years "See Colonel Sartoris. I have no taxes in Jefferson." Third evident was the fact that Miss Emily had kept her father's death body inside the house and didn't allow burying him. She has lived under his control for so long, now all of sudden he left her, she was left all by herself, she felt lost and alone, so that she wants to keep him with her in order to think he's still living with her and continued controlling her life. The fourth evident and also the most interesting of this story, the discovery of Homer Barron's skeleton in the secret room. The arrangement inside the room showing obviously that Miss Emily has slept with the death body day by day, until all remained later was just a skeleton, she's still sleeping with it, clutching on it every night. The action of killing Homer Barron can be understood that Miss Emily was afraid that he would leave her, afraid of letting him go, so she decided to kill him, so that she doesn't have to afraid of losing him, of changing, Homer Barron would still stay with her forever.
Emily. Faulkner uses symbols in the story to represent many things that the reader might have missed. For an example, the rose shaded lights and the valence curtains of faded rose color symbolize death. Rose is created when you mix the color black, (which symbolizes depression, death, and morbidity) with red (which symbolize anger, pain, and suffering) you get a shade of rose. Also, the rose in the story can symbolize the good and evil of Mrs. Emily.
Through the use of setting, characterization and theme Faulkner was able to create quite a mysterious and memorable story. "A Rose for Emily" is more than just a story though; her death represents the passing of a more genteel way of life. That is much more saddening than the unforgettable scene of Homer's decaying body. The loss of respect and politeness is has a much greater impact on society than a construction worker who by trade is always trying to change things. Generation after generation Miss Emily happily escaped modernism by locking herself in her house the past.