Conflicts in the Story a Rose for Emily by William Faulkner Essay

In the short story A Rose for Emily written by William Faulkner, readers are immersed in the narrative of a supposed town member who describes the impact that the recent death of an old woman has had upon their small community. In the narrative, readers are taken on a journey through the life of Miss Emily, an old, lonely woman who is seemingly frozen in her own timeframe. As the story unfolds, readers learn about the various tragedies Emily encountered in her lifetime such as the sudden death of her controlling father as well as her alienation from other family members that leaves her utterly alone following his death. Audiences also learn about events that happened throughout Emily’s life that both molded her as a person and aided in shaping her reputation around the town. From her controversial relationship with a construction worker named Homer Barron to her suspicious purchase of arsenic at the local drug store, there is no question that Emily lived under the constant scrutiny of her fellow townspeople. After reading the initial sentences, it can be concurred that this story doesn’t simply describe the life of an old, questionably insane woman, but also the story of the age-old battle between old and new. Through symbolism and an artful arrangement of the events described, Faulkner is able to meticulously weave a tale of the clash between newer and older generations’ views and standards.

An important idiosyncrasy of Emily's that will help the reader to understand the bizarre finale of the story, is her apparent inability to cope with the death of someone she cared for. When deputies were sent to recover back taxes from Emily, she directed them to Colonel Sartoris, an ex-mayor that had told her she would never have to pay taxes, and a man that had been dead for ten years. Years before this incident, however, after her father had died, she continued to act has if he had not, and only allowed his body to be removed when threatened with legal action. Considering the fate of her lover's corpse, one suspects she would have kept her father's corpse also, had the town not known of his death.

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.

Culture is also important to the setting in the story being told. Miss Emily was a Grierson. The high and might Grierson’s as they were known in Jefferson. Faulkner talks about how “Miss Emily had gone to join the representatives of the august names where they lay in a cedar-bemused cemetery among the ranked and anonymous graves of the union and confederate soldiers who fell at the battle of Jefferson.” By describing this culture setting Faulkner is setting the tone for what kind of character Emily is, and what kind of family she had. The Grierson’s were a powerful family in Jefferson, royalty if you will, and Emily was the last of this great family.

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

Criticism from the townspeople caused Emily to go insane. What did Emily ever do to the townspeople? They were always criticizing her in how she was to who she dated. She was already in a struggle with herself, the environment and all those who surrounded her. The society was forcing her to stray in her role of “noblesse oblige.” When Emily’s father died the “people were glad…they could pity Miss Emily. Being left alone…she had become humanized.” Townspeople were jealous that she always had money and her life was set good unlike them. Not knowing the struggle she was going through they made it worse for her by criticizing. She

Emily comes from a family with high expectations of her a sort of “hereditary obligation” (30). Emily has been mentally manipulated by her as so indicated in the line of the story “we did not say she was crazy then we believed she had to do that we remember all the young men her father had driven away” (32). There is already proof of mental illness in the family “remembering how old lady Wyatt, her great aunt, had gone completely crazy last” (32).

In “A Rose for Emily”, William Faulkner uses symbolism, imagery, simile and tone. Faulkner uses these elements to lead his characters to an epiphany of letting go of out-dated traditions and customs. The resistance to change and loneliness are prominent themes within “A Rose for Emily”. Faulkner uses “A Rose for Emily” to caution his readers that things are not always what they appear to be.

In the beginning, the townspeople “did not say she was crazy then.” (34). They sympathize with Miss Emily just after she loses her father, and just after the man whom the townsfolk believed she would marry deserts her. “Poor

In William Faulkner's A Rose For Emily there is more than enough evidence to determine that Miss Emily is mentally ill. Most of the clues and hints are subtle, but when they are all pieced together the puzzle becomes clear. Not saying it is clear as too what Miss Emily was suffering from, the only way to know that for certain would be if the author or narrator told us in the text. We can conclude, however, she was suffering from some form of mental illness. Miss Emily was seen as a recluse and odd, but what no one in the town knew was that she couldn't help it there was more going on with her then people could see.

Although Emily is the main subject of the tale, Faulkner's description of the community's reaction toward her funeral, elevates the town as the truer subject. Also after reading this passage we are shown for the first time that Emily is viewed in the community as an object, a monument perhaps and this is where her person hood is lost. The town almost refers to her as a thing instead of as an individual. Another example, that shows Miss Emily as something other than human comes in the third paragraph as she is described as "a tradition, a duty, and a care".

William Faulkner has done a wonderful work in his essay “A Rose for Emily.” Faulkner uses symbols, settings, character development, and other literary devices to express the life of Emily and the behavior of the people of Jefferson town towards her. By reading the essay, the audience cannot really figure out who the narrator is. It seems like the narrator can be the town’s collective voice. The fact that the narrator uses collective pronoun we supports the theory that the narrator is describing the life of “Miss Emily” on behalf of the townspeople. Faulkner has used the flashback device in his essay to make it more interesting. The story begins with the portrayal of Emily’s funeral and it moves to her past and at the end the readers realize that the funeral is a flashback as well. The story starts with the death of Miss Emily when he was seventy-four years old and it takes us back when she is a young and attractive girl.

The time factor is accentuated when the Colonel Santoris's name was mentioned, a character dead for ten years to which Emily insisted on being asked the reason for which she was not paying taxes. Later with modernization of the city and postal appearance she refuses a number for her house, wanting everything to remain unchanged. Her appearance has suffered a total transformation with the disappearance of her men from her life, her appearance being presented in the beginning as "slender figure" and later time "She Looked bloated .... Her eyes, lost in fatty ridges of her face."(33)

The townspeople felt bad for Emily and thought the reason for her craziness was because her family had a history of it. Emily also waits three days before revealing the death of her father. Emily allows the dead body of her father to lie in her home rotting away. Another crazy action that Emily does is when she goes to the pharmacy to purchase “rat poison”. When Emily goes to buy the arsenic she doesn’t tell the druggist what exactly she is going to use it for, but stares him down making him feel uncomfortable. “Miss Emily just stared at him, her head tilted back in order to look him eye for eye, until he looked away and went and got the arsenic and wrapped it up” (213). One of the most extreme actions Emily performs is being responsible for Homer Barron’s death. But, after fully reading the story the reader understands that Emily not only kills Homer but sleeps with his corpse. “What was left of him, rotted beneath what was left of the nightshirt, had become inextricable from the bed in which he lay… Then we noticed that in the second pillow was the indentation of a head. One of us lifted something from it, and leaning forward, that faint and invisible dust dry and acrid in the nostrils, we saw a long strand of iron-gray hair” (215) There the reader’s thought of Emily sleeping with the dead body and her psychotic tendencies is confirmed.

Another indicator if her mental illness comes with her father?s death. As her neighbors tried to offer condolences, she acted as if nothing had happened. She refused to acknowledge her father was dead. It took her three days to release his body to be buried. This cycle of her inability to accept death is continued through out the story. When the city officials came to Emily to collect taxes, she kept telling them to talk to Colonel Satoris, who at this point in time had been dead nearly ten years.