A Rose For Emily Theme Essay

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.

When Miss Emily’s father passed away she began to start acting out. Emily is stuburned like her father, who refuses to change. Although her father had lots of money, he only left Miss Emily the home. Soon the town started asking Miss Emily to pay her taxes. But, she refused to do so. Colonel Sartoris, the mayor of the town, planned to not make Miss Emily pay taxes on her house, “Not that Miss Emily would have accepted charity” (452), trying not to make it seem like Colonel Sartoris was offering her charity. He made up an imaginary loan from her father to the town

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,

7) What is the significance of Miss Emily’s actions after the death of her father?

The term "death" refers to someone who is dying or had been killed, basically someone who is at the end of their life. But, to Miss Emily, "death" has a different meaning. "Death" to Miss Emily is when someone is still living their life, even though they are skeletons. Miss Emily keeps dead bodies because she does not ever see death for what it is. She does not think they are dead. In "A Rose for Emily", the theme of control is shown through Emily's interaction with her father in her youth, as well as in Emily's controlling of death.

Tradition controls the actions of both the town and Emily herself.  “A Rose for Emily” captures the importance tradition holds for her Southern community.  The Civil War was an issue of lifestyle.  Southerners hung to the lifestyle they had, with the slaves. Tradition was the reason Emily didn’t pay her taxes. Her father was aristocracy and paid no taxes , therefore , Emily refused. When the slavery era passed, the South fell, the lifestyle was torn apart and the economy changed.  Old-time families, like Emilie’s, lost their position with their

In "A Rose for Emily," William Faulkner's use of setting and characterization foreshadows and builds up to the climax of the story. His use of metaphors prepares the reader for the bittersweet ending. A theme of respectability and the loss of, is threaded throughout the story. Appropriately, the story begins with death, flashes back to the past and hints towards the demise of a woman and the traditions of the past she personifies. Faulkner has carefully crafted a multi-layered masterpiece, and he uses setting, characterization, and theme to move it along.

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.

What makes someone to live an isolated and antisocial lifestyle? What are the causes? What are the reasons that people are in the edge of madness when a great life with many opportunities are in front of them?

The story “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner would be drastically different if it was written from the point of view of Miss Emily. Her intentions and thoughts would be more pronounced, and because of this, the ending of the story may not come as such a shock. In addition, Miss Emily would be less distanced from the audience, and they would be able to understand her character in a way that the townspeople could not. Miss Emily being the narrator would immensely change the reader’s perception of the story’s ending and her character.

In light of Homers feelings toward marriage Emily had been seen in town at the jewelers purchasing a men’s toilet set in silver with the letters H.B. on each

"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

Authors often use symbolism to deeper the meaning in their writing. Writers who compose short stories will use symbolism to foretell important parts of the story. Symbolism helps the writer get their point across in fewer words. Using symbolism also helps the reader understand the theme without directly saying it. William Faulkner uses symbols such as the items in the Snopes’s wagon, Abner’s walk through the de Spain Mansion, and Miss Emily’s house to deeper the meaning of his stories.

Love can make people do crazy things, especially if it is not returned. In William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily,” he introduces a character named Emily Grierson. Emily was a big component to the city which made the townspeople treat her like a celebrity.She was known to be a “monument” (part I: paragraph I) to the town because her father was a well-respected man. Her father was noted to control her life making it where she could not be with anyone. After his death, she had to become acclimated with the change in her life which actually never happened. Emily falls in love with a man, only for his love to not be returned which caused her to do something unbearable.Emily’s restriction from a loving relationship from a male, other than her

Emily’s family was well known to everyone in that area. At one point in time, the Grierson family may have been wealthy. The families past wealth and illustrious heritage would be enviable to anyone who grew up less than rich or with odd family members. The fact that people wanted to have a family like that of Miss Emily’s served as a foundation for the jealousy of the people who lived near her. In section one of the story, the town’s people described Miss Grierson as a hereditary obligation. The description of Miss Emily as a hereditary obligation can be perceived in two different ways. The first suggested meaning of the phrase could be that since The Grierson Family had been so distinguished in the past, people pay respect to Emily out of reverence for her family. The second suggested meaning of the phrase could be that the people of the town, where our main character lived, seen Emily as an obligation because of the taxes that she did not pay. The use of hereditary in the second suggested meaning alludes to the fact that until Emily passed away; each surviving generation would have to support her in a way, because she failed to pay her taxes. The last example of how our main character’s heritage created feelings of envy among the residents in her town is the statement made after Mr. Grierson’s death. When Mr. Grierson passed away, the narrator of our story recalls that Emily seemed “humanized”, and relished the fact that she would