Miss Emily

In “A Rose for Emily”, William Faulkner uses imagery and symbolism to both illustrate and strengthen the most prevalent theme; Emily’s resistance to change. William Faulkner seems to reveal this theme through multiple descriptions of Miss Grierson’s actions, appearance, and her home. Throughout the short story it is obvious that Emily has a hard time letting go of her past, she seems to be holding onto every bit of her past. Readers see this shown in several ways, some more obvious than others.

In William Faulkner’s story “A Rose for Emily” his main character Miss Emily Grierson’s deranged behavior leaves the reader questioning her mental status.

In this southern setting after the Civil War, Faulkner exposes the theme of resistance to change. A Rose for Emily is an assessment of the way some people deal with vicissitudes in their lives. Miss Emily Grierson who always subsisted under her father’s wings, displays serious issues after his death. The story begins with the end of Emily’s life. Poor Emily’s sentimental clutter and grotesque demeanor bring pity on her character. Some may argue that she was just misunderstood, others may see in her a psychologically unbalanced person, and that her attitude was simply a way of crying out loud for help. In any cases, Emily appears to be someone that the common mortal would feel compassion for, enough to deposit flowers on her grave. Her inability

It is William Faulkner’s unique ability to create a character that the audience will sympathize for but also feel animosity towards that makes “A Rose for Emily” so page-turning. The antagonist, Emily Grierson, is a pretty mysterious woman. Her father dies, she is left with almost nothing, she meets a man, and then she stops leaving her house. In literature, the tone is the narrator’s attitude towards his/her subject. Additionally, the style of a short story is the way the writer structures the plot and the manner that it is conveyed. In “A Rose for Emily”, it is almost impossible to truly look into the mind of this narrator because he informs the audience so many emotions that the general society has towards Emily’s reticent personality. Thus, Emily becomes more and more isolated, in which she takes a step further and stops leaving her house altogether. And the writer does a great job in expressing this. In long, vivid sentences fraught with jarring diction and compassionate tones, William Faulkner exposes the reality of society’s alienation towards a possibly insane individual.

William Faulkner’s gothic and suspenseful literary work “A rose for Emily” illustrates a town’s narration of the life of a women, confronting her life without the presence of her father and the challenge she has of facing the inevitable change of rules and lifestyle of the society that cause the Civil War. As the story progresses there are different series of events that present a set of actions and decisions made by the protagonist, Emily Grierson that later on leads us to understand her mental condition. Emily’s character demonstrates the consequences and effects of isolation caused by the denial of change, the strict influences of the father and the social pressure of the community.

Upon reading “A Rose for Emily,” penned by William Faulkner, one discovers several colorful characters, including one Miss Emily Grierson, who may be best described as a wilting violet in a time capsule. As the daughter of a colonel who was once the respected town mayor, Miss Emily met a much different fate than one might have expected of someone with such a high societal status. In keeping with the idea that humans are flawed beings, a tragic hero is often described as an individual with immense potential who meets a horrific end due to flaws within themselves, and the main character in Faulkner’s short story undeniably meets these criteria. In William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily,” Miss Emily Grierson suffers an unfortunate fate due to her lack of willingness to evolve as the times changed, her intense need to keep up appearances, and her withdrawal from society which leads readers to accept her as a tragic hero.

William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” is well known for it beautifully intricate story line. Within this story I will be showing his vision of fate, symbolism, and status all contribute into this short story. “A Rose for Emily” is the telling of the life of our main character Miss Emily from the gossip of the small town of Jefferson.

A fascinating technique used by William Faulkner in "A Rose for Emily" was the use of an anonymous narrator whose role in the town and connection to Emily is a bit unclear. Within the story, Faulkner doesn’t rely on the standard linear approach when he acquaints his characters and their ambitions. There is a strong theme of death, beginning and ending the story with the death of Emily Grierson. The impact of this narrative, theme of time, and the power of death will be scrutinized through close textual analysis to determine the mental stability of Miss Emily.

William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” starts out in a very different way than most stories. “A Rose for Emily” is a short story about a spinster woman. The story is told from the point of view of many people in her town almost like gossip. It is continuously shifting from one perspective to the other painting a full picture and time progression for the reader. Faulkner’s story has a twist though, his writing and language suggests that appearances can be deceiving.

“A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner is a suspenseful story not only because of its complex chronology and shocking ending, but also because of Faulkner’s unusual use of narrative technique. While the narrator is seen by many as a windows pane or mirror upon Emily’s life, there is more to the narrator than simply being an unnamed speaker or collective town voice. The rather unusual narrative perspective creates suspense and a sense of mystery as to the identity of the unnamed narrator, seemingly representing a collective town voice; furthermore, the narrative perspective significantly influences the characterisation of Emily. In this paper, I am going to focus on the following questions: Who is the narrator? What is his relation to Emily?

Throughout history, women have had to frequently live within the standards of an oppressive society. However, what happens when the oppression becomes so unbearable that drives a woman mad? This is the case for Miss Emily. Therefore, this subjection to burdensome and unjust impositions or restrains have caused her to be responsible for incomprehensible behavior. In the story A Rose for Emily, William Faulkner vividly illustrates the short story of a woman who has been isolated from the community after her father’s death. In order to portray Miss Emily’s melancholy through the story, Faulkner used stylistic devices that characterize gothic fiction such as constant decay, eternal seclusion, and strong emotions.

In short story, “A Rose for Emily”, writer William Faulkner writes about an old deranged lady who the townspeople depict in a negative way. Emily Grierson, the main character, comes from a dark background even though her family is considered an elite family. She was brought up in a small town in Mississippi where she lived in her whole life. In her early life her father was a very controlling figure, not only being very strict, but also cut out any ties that could have helped Emily develop social skills. This led her not to rely on anyone after her father passed away. Following the death of her father, Homer Barron was the only person she loved in her life. With no social skill Emily is not a confident person, and is scared of people leaving her in her life. When Homer decided to leave the town Emily poisoned him as she could not bear the loss of anyone else in her life.

In his short story A Rose for Emily, William Faulkner portrays his main character Emily Grierson as an older woman who has isolated herself from society and is trapped in a world full of delusions. Due to Ms. Grierson’s isolation, her mental state of mind has caused her to make unthinkable decisions for the sake of her sanity. Throughout the story Faulkner uses the literary elements of setting, point of view, and symbolism to depict the effect that isolation had on Emily Grierson’s psychological deterioration.

Emily Rose was the town’s nutcase. The town’s people always had some gossip to spread about her, but never knew the real Emily. She was a mysterious woman who only exposed herself to the few who were worthy, but was a hot commodity in the town. In “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner, the characters, plot and setting strengthen the eeriness yet comical short story.

William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” first published in 1931 is a tragic story of a southern woman, Miss Emily Grierson, who is the subject of the town’s obsession. The narrator, a member of the town, tells the story of what occurs in a decaying old southern house that is always being seen by the townspeople. They witness Miss Emily’s life, her father’s life, her turn to insanity and the death of both her and her lover’s life. There are many themes within “A Rose for Emily,” the color of Emily’s hair, isolation among others and death. The themes are communicated through the plot if the story such as the description of Emily’s hair, he insanity and tradition.