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Recommended: How emily faulkner a rose for emily is a symbol

The use of symbols in writing can be used in many ways. William Faulkner accomplishes this through out his work, "A Rose For Emily". Faulkner uses symbolism from the title to the ending in this piece. He uses a variety of things in the story to give readers an understanding of Emily as a person through the use of symbolism. Faulkner uses the rose, mentioned in the title, as well as other facets of the story including her home, the people of the town, her father, the house she lives in, the dust in the house and many others. By using these key aspects of the story, Faulkner is able to develop the story as well as the character of Emily for readers.
A rose symbolizes many things to many people. The rose traditionally symbolizes love, which in this story, may represent Homer, Emily's "love". The rose also, in mid-evil history, symbolizes secrecy, which is a characteristic of Emily herself. Emily herself symbolizes the history of the Old South. Her insistence to continue to do things as her father had done, her refusal to acknowledge a new system of paying taxes, her determination to remain in her home while being surrounded by the town's progression into a more modernized are several ways Faulkner exposes the reader to Emily's character. Also used as symbolism is the dust present in Emily's home when the townspeople come to collect the taxes she owed. The dust inside the house appeared everywhere and was virtually undisturbed. The dust covering everything and being undisturbed leads the reader to think that even inside her home, Emily resists changing, or even moving, anything. Her unwavering resistance to change also, along with other things in the story, symbolizes Emily's inability to cope with change in any asp...

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...ory, the house ages along with Emily. When she was young and beautiful, the house was ornate and beautifully designed "for the era." By the time Emily dies, the home is dark, broken down, and completely out of place in the now modernized town of Jefferson, just like Emily. Discussing symbolism in "A Rose For Emily" seems to come full circle because as the reader concludes the story, it is evident that the "rose" mentioned in the title itself, never comes into play during the story. The "rose" in the title becomes a mystery to the readers, much like Emily is a mystery to the people of Jefferson. The absence of the "rose", even a single time, throughout the story, leaves the reader wondering........if the rose symbolizes love, as it traditionally and historically does, does the absence of it symbolize the fact that Emily never found true love during her lifetime?

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