A Rose For Emily Theme Essay

Her unwillingness to change after the civil war was one of the reasons she was so isolated. The narrator tells us twice that Miss Emily is similar to an idol, probably because she was raised to think she was above others, and others were raised to look up to her as well.  She was stuck with the mindset that she was better than others, even when the community was changing she believed that she didn’t have to obey the law. She also kept to herself and no one knew anything about her. According to Faulkner, the quote “…A note on paper of an archaic shape, in a thin flowing calligraphy in faded ink…” shows me in a symbolic way, that Emily is stuck in time. The story of Emily is old and dated itself. The author uses the words archaic, calligraphy, and faded. It took me back in time while reading these words, which is exactly what Emily is.

A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner is a short story that describes the tradition and how it implements people through the idea of death. The protagonist Emily gave into the concept of death the minute her father passed away. Death prevented Emily from pursuing the greater things in life. On the long run, she died of a broken heart because of her father's death and regret. Faulkner presents an argument based of feminism and the nature of broken women. This short story covers the significance of the pursuing of happiness. Emily Garrison struggles to maintain her tradition and the rich status of her family in her small community. However, time change and Emily become a disgrace to her community when she was not married about the age of thirty.

The narrator seems unable to establish direct contact with Emily, either in the recovery center or their home life. The narrator notes how Emily grew slowly more distant and emotionally unresponsive. Emily returned home frail, distant, and rigid, with little appetite. Each time Emily returned, she was forced to reintegrate into the changing fabric of the household. Clearly, Emily and the narrator have been absent from each other’s lives during significant portions of Emily’s development. After so much absence, the narrator intensifies her attempts to show Emily affection, but these attempts are rebuffed, coming too late to prevent Emily’s withdrawal from her family and the world. Although Emily is now at home with the narrator, the sense of absence continues even in the present moment of the story. Emily, the narrator’s central

In addition to the impact of her family on her mental state, it is also through the relationship Miss Emily has with her community, that helps to foreshadow the fateful ending. It is through the words and actions of the community that this relationship is shown, such as how they even distance themselves from her. In the beginning of the story in Act I, Faulkner describes Miss Emily’s position in the town as “a sort of hereditary obligation”. Since the death of her father, the town is aware of the struggle she is having while being alone, so that is why they see her

Miss Emily's relationship with her father is a key factor in the development of her isolation. As she is growing up, he will not let anybody around his daughter,

This was the only way she felt she could do both. Harder still was that Emily would cry and beg her mother not to that nursery school. As these separations press on Emily and her mother, the mother feels guilt and her child is torn by a separation made even worse as she's placed in several undesirable locations.

"A Rose for Emily" is a wonderful short story written by William Faulkner. It begins with at the end of Miss Emily’s life and told from an unknown person who most probably would be the voice of the town. Emily Grierson is a protagonist in this story and the life of her used as an allegory about the changes of a South town in Jefferson after the civil war, early 1900's. Beginning from the title, William Faulkner uses symbolism such as house, Miss Emily as a “monument “, her hair, Homer Barron, and even Emily’s “rose” to expresses the passing of time and the changes. The central theme of the story is decay in the town, the house, and in Miss Emily herself. It shows the way in which we all grow old and decay and there is nothing permanent

In “A Rose for Emily”, Charles Faulkner used a series of flashbacks and foreshadowing to tell Miss Emily’s story. Miss Emily is an interesting character, to say the least. In such a short story of her life, as told from the prospective of a townsperson, who had been nearly eighty as Miss Emily had been, in order to tell the story from their own perspective. Faulkner set up the story in Mississippi, in a world he knew of in his own lifetime. Inspired by a southern outlook that had been touched by the Civil War memory, the touch of what we would now look at as racism, gives the southern aroma of the period. It sets up Miss Emily’s southern belle status and social standing she had been born into, loner or not.

Miss Emily tried to keep the body of her father with her in her house. This signifies that she did not

Faulkner states that Miss Emily would tell the other people 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. Just as they were about to resort to law and force, she broke down, and they buried her father quickly,'' (Faulkner 804). This part of the story foreshadows another incident where Emily again refuses to let go of the deceased. Instead of Emily not being able to let go of her father, this time she couldn't let go of her close friend, Homer. The hint of Emily not being able to let go of her father in the beginning serves as an indication for the reader that Miss Emily is very isolated and will do anything to prevent that. Emily’s suspicious actions causes the reader to anticipate certain happenings and wonder what will happen next.

“We remembered all of the young men her father had driven away” (Faulkner 316). We note that Miss Emily never married and was a recluse from the townspeople until the day she died. She was isolated from her town, abandoned by her father, and judgment fell upon her from every watchful eye of that small town.

As the story continues, Faulkner beings to describe Miss Emily as a woman who has stayed true to her customs and strong ties to her family. Her family is much respected in her town, it is shown through an expected greeting. Miss Emily is also free from paying any taxes because Colonel Sartoris revoked her taxes after the death of her father. On page 1 Paragraph 8, she is asked by the city authorities to pay her taxes she owes and

If Miss Emily could be the narrator of “A Rose for Emily”, her motives and thoughts would be more obvious. When she is buying the arsenic, the druggist tells her, “‘… the law requires you to tell what you are

Emily had depression and was dealing with it in her own way by closing herself off. Looks could be very deceiving and in this case, Emily surprised the town when she died. The townspeople realized that there was more to her than they thought and were quick to judge.

Once Miss Emily’s father died, she didn’t want to let go. She had no one to love and lover her back. The only love and compassion she knew was her fathers. With him leaving this world entirely, I think she didn’t want to believe he was dead. She wanted to hold on as much as she could. “She told them that her father was not dead. She did that for three days… Just as they were about to resort to law and force, she broke down, and they buried her father quickly.” Again, Miss Emily’s necessity for love made her unconscious of the real world, wanting to hold on to something that was not there.