A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner

One thing to notice in A Rose for Emily is the sort of underlying sense that Emily may have a mental illness. She has rather disturbed and crazy behaviors that leave the town wondering about what she was up to. One example of Emily showing her mental ill behaviors is when she refused to acknowledge her father’s death. She kept him in the house for 3 days, refusing to admit that he was dead. “…Miss Emily met them at the door, dressed as usual and with no trace of grief on her face. She told them that her father was not dead. She did that for three days, with the minister calling on her and the doctors, trying to persuade her to let them dispose of the body.” (Faulkner). She had lived with her deceased father in her house without a bother; she even resisted the people that were trying to help her. It seems as this may be her first sign of mental illness, and foreshadowing for the way she reacts to problems in the future.

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.

Is there any case in which a murderer would be justified in killing? What if the murderer suffered from a severe form of mental illness? In William Faulkner chilling short story called A Rose for Emily, we see a character who murders her lover, but was it her fault? Emily had been mentally unstable for a long time and her family had a long history of suffering from mental illnesses as well, but at the end of the day there is no justification for murder. Some of the most notorious serial killers and murderers have suffered from one form or another of mental illness. People like Ed Gein, John Wayne Gacy, and Jeffrey Dahmer all suffered from some form of mental illness ("Dangerous Minds: Mental Illnesses of Infamous Criminals"). Although there is an understanding on how a person with mental illness is more susceptible to commit violent crimes, it is still wrong. In a study it was found that “no significant difference in the rates of violence among people with mental illness and other people living in the same neighborhood” (Publications). Emily killed Homer due to lack of morality caused by a combination of terrible parenting and a system that put her above the law. The relationship she had with her father was a distinct one, he pushed her into a little bottle and never let her out. She wasn’t allowed to be a person, but instead a trapped soul yearning for attention and love. The town in which she lived, held her on this pedestal that separated her from the rest of the

On September 25, 1897, William Cuthbert Faulkner was born in New Albany, Mississippi. He stands as one of the most preeminent American writers of the twentieth century. His literary reputation included poetry, novels, short stories, and screenplays. Faulkner won two Pulitzer Prizes for Fiction and the Nobel Prize in Literature. “A Rose for Emily” is a short fascinating story written by William Faulkner and it was his first short story published in a national magazine. The story involved an old woman named Emily Grierson, the daughter of a rich man that was considered a hero in the town where they lived. The story takes place in the fictional Town of Jefferson, Mississippi during and after the civil war between the Northerners and Southerners. Emily’s childhood was never easy; her father was always overprotective with her even when she was a grown woman. Charmaine Mosby an English Professor of Western Kentucky University in his work analysis of “A Rose for Emily” writes, “Miss Emily Grierson had been cut off from most social contact and all courtship by her father.” This was the principal reason why Emily Grierson was always a lonely soul.

Throughout life people face many hardships, including life and death, letting go is such a hard thing for these people to do. In the story, A Rose for Emily, Faulkner writes about love and the effect it can have on a person . Faulkner writes about how Miss Emily loses her father and he is the only person she has in her life. Later in the story, Homer Barron came to their town to fix the streets. People begin seeing Miss Emily and Homer together and believe that they are going to get married. The time comes for Homer to leave and it was believed that Miss Emily will kill herself if she loses another person she loves. Homer disappears and Emily never exits the house, all everyone sees is the

Among many twentieth-century writers who have attempted to write about murder and mystery, William Faulkner’s ability to create an uncomfortable mood is incomparable to any other. "When Miss Emily Grierson died, our whole town went to her funeral." In the introduction of A Rose for Emily, the pages are immediately infested with the theme of death, which brings the reader to question why this story has such a depressing tone upon separating the front cover from its pages. Making the solemn mood such an integral part of this piece not only provokes thought within the reader, but also gives a sense of security. It is clearly spelt out that the author is trying to make the audience feel a certain way. This specificity so early on in the piece makes his writing more believable and settling into the discomforting tone. A Rose for Emily is a poetic collage of psyche solutes meant to provoke life-altering observations and internal search.

In William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” it is clear how Emily’s gender affects how the individuals in the town perceive her. Emily’s gender particularly affects how men understand her. Throughout the whole piece Emily is seen as a helpless individual who is lonely and has suffered losses throughout her life. When the reader reaches the end of the story the actions that Emily has taken is unexpected because of the way she is perceived by the narrator. In the beginning of the story, when the whole town was at her funeral and the men were discussing her life, none of the townspeople ever say anything negative about Emily. The men went to the funeral because they saw Emily as a fallen monument to the town. The narrator discusses how the town felt that Emily had become a tradition for them to take care of her. The narrator even points out how she did not have to pay taxes. This clearly shows how women are perceived in this town. Women are seen as unable to take care of themselves and as innocent humans. The way the narrator talks about Emily gives the reader the idea that Emily could never hurt anyone, because of this idea the reader is shocked at the end of the story. The feminist view of Emily allows the reader to be shocked by the ending of the story and it also allows the reader to see the way masculinity is understood in this piece.

“A Rose for Emily” showed how even as much as she tried Emily didn’t know how to survive or adjust to the world around her, because of her upbringing. Emily had to hold on things because she feared they would leave her, because growing up she was so sheltered. “…she would have to cling to that which had robbed her, as people will.” After her father died she didn’t know how to let go or react even after how he treated her all her life. “…her father a spraddled silhouette in the foreground, his back to her and clutching a horsewhip, the two of them framed by the back-flung front door.” She even denied his death for days after he died, “She told them 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.” Emily lashed out and

William Faulkner wrote A Rose for Emily to entertain his audience. It is a mysterious read which keeps the reader interested and wanting to know more. Throughout the text Faulkner hints about the misfortunes that surround Emily. The biggest problem that was seemed to be low key addressed is to not judge what you think a person may have or go through because you could be wrong or you could be entirely right. The biggest misfortune that happens to Emily, is that she dies and then the writer gives background and flashes back to what Miss Emily’s life through a third person view to show how the townspeople assumed about Miss Emily’s life. (insert resource #2 thesis part)

In William Faulkner’s short story, “A Rose For Emily”, there are a few themes and symbols that are the most significant. The main character, Emily Grierson, is used to display the struggle against change while trying to keep old traditions alive. Emily’s house is a perfect symbol of old traditions. The theme of death is also displayed, as death seems to just follow Emily throughout her life. At the end of the short story, something as simple as a piece of long, gray hair becomes a huge symbol of the story, answering many questions for the community and, of course, the readers.

In “A Rose for Emily,” Emily Grierson, referred to as Miss Emily throughout the story, is the main character of 'A Rose for Emily'. Emily used to live with her father and servants, in a big decorated house. Emily was not able to develop any real relationship with anyone else, but it was like her world revolved around her father. When her father passed away, it was a devastating loss for Miss Emily. Instead of going on with her life, her life halted after death of her father. Miss Emily found love in a guy named Homer Barron, who came as a contractor for paving the sidewalks in town. The passed passage of time creates a tension in her life. At first she cannot accept the death of her father. After that she creates tension in the community by refusing to pay the taxes. When Emily proposed Homer 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.

In both William Faulkner’s, “A Rose for Emily”, and Kate Chopin’s, “The Storm”, the setting is a very vital part of the literary work. In “A Rose for Emily,” Faulkner introduces us to an older lady named Emily, who was very well known in her town. As we learn through Faulkner’s use of imagery and description, Miss Emily has a rather hard time letting go of people she holds dear to her. We learn that in her basement we have a very raunchy smell. The neighbors try to mask the smell by squirting lime juice, but little do they know it’s the body of her father. At the end of the story we are left in her bedroom with the rotting body of her once lover in her bed. Where there is a strange finding on the pillow beside him. In “The Storm,” we are introduced to Calixta, who is at home alone, doing her wifely duties when an unexpected storm and a visitor arrives. We soon learn that the visitor is a man named Alcee and they have an affair during the storm. When the storm is over and Alcee has left, Calixta’s husband and son arrive safely. We see that Calixta acts as if nothing happened, and assumes her role as the worried mother. They all sit down and have a good laugh while they eat dinner that night. Kate Chopin’s, “The Storm,” does a better job in creating the setting than Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily,” because Kate thoroughly depicts an image of Calixta’s house and bedroom. While Faulkner only describes the outside of Miss Emily’s home.

A Rose for Emily is a short story written by William Faulkner. Its plot focuses on Emily Grierson, a representative of the family of previously rich Southern aristocrats. The woman obviously had inherited mental problems, which resulted in the murder of Homer Barron, Emily’s first and only mentioned potential bridegroom. After the crime she turned into a complete anchoret and spent many decades in the house with Barron’s body. There were many factors that contributed to the tragic fate of Emily Grierson. Besides obvious class-specific and psychiatric issues, the list includes the perception of gender roles in the society of the time. Women played second fiddle despite their

The short story A Rose for Emily is the tale about Emily Grierson and the time leading to her death. Emily was raised by her father to have a sense of class and expectation to be treated as such. Emily grew up in an era where black women were not allowed to be on the street without aprons, this was set into motion by her father. Her house was on one of the nicer streets in the town and was kept well. Emily was raised by her controlling father who never thought any suitor for his girl was good enough. He had made arrangements when Emily was a child that he should never have to pay taxes. This was indicative of the power her family once reveled in.