A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner

While one of the most traditional interpretations of “A Rose for Emily” is the variety of meanings for the “rose” presented in the title and how the “rose” fits in with the story. Laura Getty states in her article many varied perspectives that many could ponder when identifying what the “rose” stands for. She states many possible theories that depict what the “rose” means, including theories of other writers that help support her own theory and also that adds another way that most might not consider at first. Most of the interpretations of the rose are all focused on the “internal elements” (Getty 231) rather than the actual rose itself. Getty theorizes about certain characters, buildings, anything that symbolizes a rose in the story as

Symbolism can be defined as a figure, character, or object that is used to represent complex or abstract ideas. By expressing an idea in the form of an image, the reader can visualize the concept more concretely. The old expression, “a picture is worth a thousand words,” applies to symbolism as the author creates a visual representation of ideas. The use of symbolism in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter helps to illuminate the overall meaning of the work.

The main symbolism running throughout A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner, is the theme of how important it is to let go of the past. Miss Emily clings to the past and does not want to be independent. The Old South is becoming the new South and she cannot move forward. The residents of the South did not all give in to change just because they lost the Civil War. In A Rose for Emily time marches on leaving Miss Emily behind as she stubbornly refuses to progress into a new era. In the story, symbolism is used to give more details than the author actually gives to the reader. Symbolism helps to indicate how Emily was once innocent but later changes, how her hair, house, and lifestyle, helped to show her resistance to change. The story is not

The Rose for Emily also contains multiple literary devices; such as, symbolism, the aged house Emily lives in shows her isolation, she does not leave that much, because she is hiding a terrible secret in the upstairs room. Emily only wanted a home, she could call her own and grow old with someone she loved in, which she thought was Home Barron but tragically he died and stored his body in the upstairs room, this is the reason why her house was smelling so horrible. The townspeople had to sprinkle lime on her lawn to terminate the smell. The reader is to think that she killed him because she loved him and wanted the control that she never had, because her father abused her and he was all she had before he died, so she wanted to always have Barron.

In the short story “A Rose for Emily”, William Faulkner escorts the reader through the peculiar life of the main character Miss Emily Grierson. The gloomy tone of the story is set by the author beginning his tale with the funeral of Miss Emily. During course of the story, we are taken through different times in Miss Emily’s life and how she was lost in time, with the town around her moving forward. Through the use of southern gothic writing style, narrator point of view, and foreshadowing, Faulkner aids the reader in creating a visualization of Miss Emily and the town in which she lives while also giving an insight into her sanity.

The first symbol, found in "A Rose for Emily", is the house where Emily and her father live. This house is at one time a beautiful home to Emily and her father. During that time, the house symbolizes prosperity, family, and happiness. Unfortunately, the house does not stay a positive symbol forever. Emily 's father dies and the only people that continue to live in the house is Emily and one servant. Emily does not take care of her beautiful home any longer. The house is no longer appealing. It slowly becomes rundown and is symbol of despair and grief. Emily uses the house to alienate herself from the rest of society. She comes out of her alienation when she meets a man that she likes. His name is Homer Barron and she dreams of one day sharing her home with him. However, Homer does not agree with the ideas of Emily and tries to leave her. Emily is not fond of his choice to flee her, so she murders him. She uses the house to hold him like a trophy in a room. The house that was thought of as a positive place in the

In William Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily," the symbolism shows more about the character than is detailed by the author. Authors generally use symbolism as a way to represent the intangible qualities of the characters, places, and events in their work. Symbolism helps to indicate several things in a story. In "A Rose for Emily" Faulkner uses symbolism to define and characterize Emily Grierson. There are many symbols in this story each one has a special meaning to be determined by the reader. Therefore each time the story is read it can take on a new form, which will make this story lasts for generations to come The title "A Rose for Emily" holds a lot of symbolism in itself. When

An important symbol in the short story, “A Rose for Emily,” was the house Emily was inherited by her father. Faulkner uses the house to represent how death affects the life of a Emily. The house is an important symbol, because Faulkner used it to to show Emily herself physically, emotionally, and also used to represent her refusal to

Rose for Emily by William Faulkner represents a tradition dominant woman who refuses to compel to death throughout her life. The narrator who is one of the town people or probably her neighbor, since he knows the details regarding the city gossip on Emily. He is at the same Emily’s age or slightly younger as he describes her life since she was in thirties. The narrater likenes Emily as fallen monument. He establishes a symbol of a powerful woman as a monument. People usually build monument for their ancestors after their death to recall them as a symbol of defeat death. However, Emily attempts to defeat the death in her life, builds her monument, and once she dies she falls down especially when people recognize her secrets. The narrator

The symbol of the rose is one of the principal meaning in this short story. Also, it symbolize the importance of the memory of Emily. The author goes between the reality of the story and Emily’s dream. In the story death and demolition is approached but the rose is there to have a optimistic outlook on Emily’s life. Reading the title of this story “ A Rose for Emily” readers would most likely look at this through a romantic perception.

There are two main themes of “A Rose for Emily”. One of them is the power of death. Death hangs over the story by the narrator mentioning Emily’s death at the beginning by describing her bad life. Emily gives into death slowly and the narrator compares her to a drowned woman.

Throughout many stories, they all have one main subject in common. They all use symbolization to gain the attention of the audience. In the novel, “A Rose for Emily,” has many different types of symbolizations throughout the novel.

In “A Rose for Emily”, symbols are used to represent love. Ironically, the story does not display a rose for Emily at any given point. However, the rose is a significant symbol within the story. A rose represents love, where two significant others give each other roses to express affection. With so many admirers in Emily’s youth, it seems certain that Emily will accept a suitor’s rose, but she never does. Once she meets Homer, she feels like she has found her true love at last. This idea is preserved within her forever when she kills her first love, as Homer's dead body and her wedding dress are preserved in a sealed room within her home (Faulkner 5).

The most significant theme in A Rose for Emily is death, which is symbolic of Emily’s life and the life of the Old South. After the defeat of the South in the Civil War, Emily’s life is symbolically over as the days of plantation life and Southern “chivalry” are all but over. This death is represented by Faulkner’s description of Emily’s neighborhood, in which the narrator describes to us it was once an upper-class neighborhood has fallen into disrepair as the mansions are being replaced with cotton mills and industrial sheds. It is because of this sudden change that Emily becomes enamored with death, which is first depicted as when she resists giving up her dead father’s body for burial.

Symbolism that “A Rose for Emily” displays is Miss Emily’s taxes that represent death. First is the death of her father. The taxes are a