Examples Of Death In A Rose For Emily

Biographical Inconsistencies “A Rose for Emily”

In the short story “A Rose for Emily,” death plays a major role in developing the story. It also shows how the death of one person can change a city as a whole. However, if this story is compared to the life of the author, William Faulkner, people can see how death in his life can contribute to why he wrote the story the way he did. The death of the people is used to add to the meaning of the work altogether. William Faulkner’s experiences add meaning to his work, “A Rose for Emily,” through several deaths and Emily’s ultimate demise.

Throughout the story, the narrator shows how Emily was holding on to the past when everybody else was moving forward in the present and she did not want to make

She would hold on to items from the past everybody else was letting go. She was willing, and obligated, to hold onto these items from the past when nobody else would. For example, when the townspeople travel into her house after she died, it was a mirror walking into a time portal to 40 years ago, “..there was one room in that region above stairs which no one had seen in forty years… a thin, acrid pall as of the tomb seen to lie everywhere upon this room decked and furnished as for a bridal,” all of the man 's belongings were left as well, his suit and tie, “as if they had just been removed” (369). Emily was not able to let go of the past and neither was the author, William

All of them, however, can be looked at through the life of the author. William Faulkner was no stranger to death or disappointment. He suffered through many deaths, including a week old daughter. Each of Emily’s conflicts resinated William’s life. He experienced a difficult life and faced many harsh deaths. In order to overcome his situations, he would write about them. William began writing about the places and people of his childhood, developing characters based on real people he had grown up with or heard about. He would use this as a way to express his feelings so he could move past them and continue to prosper. Once readers understand the background of the story and the life of William Faulkner, the meaning behind “A Rose for Emily” almost appears to mirror Faulkner’s