Themes In A Rose For Emily

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How To Raise a Murderer What kind of socialization could create a person who is capable of murdering someone and then living with the corpse as if nothing had ever happened? Could this style of upbringing have set the fate of Emily long before she could even change it? Some might say oh it is just the craziness coming out because, “remembering how old lady Wyatt, her great-aunt, had gone completely crazy,” indicates that there is a strong chance she is too. (Faulkner 12) William Faulkner exhibits through his short story, “A Rose for Emily,” how an overprotected life can set someone up for failure through the use of theme, conflict, and setting. There is an inability to accept that the world is heading towards progression because Emily is …show more content…

So, to fill the shoes of her father she soon begins to see Homer Barron. At first the towns people are happy for them, but soon gain a dislike for the relationship because they have not married and they feel like Emily is setting a bad example for the younger generation. However, Emily clearly wants to get married to Homer because she goes out and buys a mens toilet set with his initials engraved in them. Homer on the other hand does not want to be married because it is stated that, “Homer himself had remarked—he like men, and it was known that he drank with the younger men in the Elk’s Club—that he was not a marrying man.” (Faulkner 14) Emily can not stand the idea of being left alone so she murders Homer to ensure that her controlled lifestyle can remain intact. From the short story there is an overall questioning and curious aspect involved with the characters and this is intensified by the setting of the story. Emily lives with no one besides a servant who does not speak to anyone when he goes into town. The house that she lives in is also one of the very first houses built in Jefferson and “no one save an old man servant—a combined gardner and cook—had seen in at least ten years.” (Faulkner 10) To be placed somewhere that Emily is isolated from the rest of the townspeople gives her the ability to murder someone without anyone finding

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