Poetry Explication: The Rose

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

“ She thinks of her mother, who is dead. Dead, but still her mother. Joined. This is confusing. Of her father a gray old man who sold wild mink, rabbit, fox skins to Sears, Roebuck (Walker pg.2). Roselily once again starts to think back to the days when she was a child, to the days when she had no worries. She feels her mother who is dead still stands beside her in spirt to guide her on this unknown journey she is about to embark on, and for a moment it gives her comfort. “Or forever hold,” the Preachers’ words ring in Roselily’s ear. “ She does not even know if she loves him. She loves his sobriety. His refusal to sing just because he know the tune. She loves his pride. His blackness and his gray car. She loves his understanding go her condition. She thinks she loves the effort he will make to redo her into what he truly wants (Walker pg.3). Here the author really dives in to what Roselily thinks of her new husband. She knows she doesn't love him and probably never will. However, there are aspects about him which she thinks she can love and she realizes that will have to do

Roses are given to people so often. Who among us does not attach some type of personal significance to the image of a rose? I would venture to say that no one has not given, been given, or wished to give or receive a rose. Roses are delivered from florists by the dozen during all holiday seasons, for anniversaries, for apologies, for courting. . . And it is in this obsessive usage that the meaning of the rose has been exploited. What delivers more

In the first stanza of the poem, the speaker gives the rose quite a unique symbolic meaning. She uses words such as "All tenderly his messenger he chose" this quote from the speaker tells us that the rose itself is the messenger and tender to its touch, showing that grace and care were put into simply displaying initial love and affection. In addition, the author stated that the rose is "Deep-hearted" expressing the meaning the sender put into the rose, how the act of giving her a deep hearted rose

Symbolism in literature is using an object to portray a different, deeper meaning in a story. Symbols represent ideas or qualities that the author has maneuvered into his or her story that has meaning. There can be multiple symbols in a story or just one. It is up to the reader to interpret the meaning of the symbols and their significance to the story. While reading a story, symbols may not become clear until the very end, once the climax is over, and the falling action is covered. In William Faulkner’s, “A Rose for Emily,” there are multiple examples of symbolism that occur throughout the story.

Desperation for love arising from detachment can lead to extreme measures and destructive actions as exhibited by the tumultuous relationships of Miss Emily in William Faulkner's “A Rose for Emily” (rpt. in Thomas R. Arp and Greg Johnson, Perrine's Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense, 9th ed. [Boston: Wadsworth, 2006] 556). Miss Emily is confined from society for the majority of her life by her father, so after he has died, she longs for relations that ironically her longing destroys. The despondency and obsession exuded throughout the story portray the predicament at hand.

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.

Rose’s distraught for her marriage with fiancé is very evident in her facial expression as she runs to the stern and looks off to the ocean. When Jack enters the scene, it is apparent that he is nervous; but, as he approaches Rose, his face reflects calm but courage. While attempting to discourage her from suicide, Jack realizes she is actually very disturbed, but afraid to jump.In this case, he shares with her some anecdotes on his experience with ice fishing to ease her stress off. Examining another sub-scene where she trips and falls, we can see his courageous face turning into a face of her new hope for life. Her face is brightened, her eyes are mesmerized, and her mind is strengthened by the end of this shot leaving audience enchanted.

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.

This sound causes the narrator to go insane, but no one else can hear the sound. The beating represents the narrator’s conscience and guilt. The narrator feels very guilty for killing the old man, mainly because the old man never hurts him in any way. The beating represents that the narrator knows that he should not have killed the old man because of his eye, and his conscience is telling him to confess the crime he has committed. This happens at the end of the story when the narrator says, “‘Villains!’I shrieked, ‘dissemble no more! I admit the deed! --tear up the planks! here, here! --It is the beating of his hideous heart!’ ” (Poe 4). Although the officers cannot hear the sound of the heart because it is a figure of the narrator’s imagination, the narrator assumes they can, and therefore must know (according to the narrator) that the narrator has committed a crime. In “A Rose for Emily”, symbolism is seen throughout the story, specifically, the corpse of Homer Barron. At the end of the story, the text says, “He had… a profound and fleshless grin… the body had apparently once lain in the attitude of an embrace, but now the long sleep that outlasts love, that conquers even the grimace of love, had cuckolded him… what was left of the nightshirt, had become inextricable from the bed in which he lay; and upon him and upon the pillow beside him lay that even coating of the patient and biding dust” (Faulkner 5). Homer Barron’s corpse symbolizes Emily’s refusal to give up

Even though the rose is distinctly only in the title, it emerges as allegorical and symbolic throughout the story. Getty states, “The "Rose" of the title extends far beyond any one flower or literary allusion in its implications for the story's structure. The "Rose" represents secrecy: the confidential relationship between the author and his character, with all of the privileged information withheld” (Getty 230). The view of the warmth of love and fondness is to be thought when

In chapter one, the author mentions a wild rose-bush betwixt an ugly scenery and unsightly vegetation where the rose bush “might be imagined to offer its fragrance and fragile beauty to the prisoner as he went in, and to the condemned criminal as he came forth to his doom, in token that the deep heart of Nature could pity and be kind to him.” The rose bush between its drab surroundings, represents Hester Prynne ( the rebel of society) and the Puritan community that surrounds her. Again, occurring in Chapter Eight, page ninety, Pearl describes herself to the old clergyman that she has not been made at all and her mother plucked her off the bush of wild roses outside the prison door. This, yet sounding so cruel when heard from a child, a tranquil mood can be imagined as one plucks roses off a bush for

Prompted by its ambiguity, when William Faulkner was asked to explain the symbolic nature of the rose, he responded by stating that it was “Just a ‘Rose for Emily’ – That’s all” (Towner & Carothers, p. 67). This implies that the rose is merely a gesture of kindness to a pitiable character and nothing more. For those not comfortable with Faulkner’s response, perhaps the only other clue lies in the final page where a secret room reveals “faded rose colored” curtains and “rose shaded lights” (Faulkner, p.674). It may be that Faulkner used the rose to tie the beginning of the story with its end. While the rose in the title may or may not be symbolic, what it actually represents appears to be left open to interpretation.

. .in those roses gay and bright. . .hung their heads to droop, to grow stained, to die when their turn came” (Green 13-15). This quote characterizes generally how Charley’s life, represented by the rose, has shifted drastically.

Literary texts often include objects that have greater meaning than just the object itself. These objects often alter the speakers life drastically in correlation to their spouses, love life, and family members. In the poem “One Perfect Rose” by Dorothy Parker, a rose is meant to symbolize the affection of an individual for the speaker. However a rose as perceived in the speaker 's eyes means little to nothing. In the text “The Jewelry” by Guy De Maupassant, the wife admires her imitation jewelry and the husband cannot comprehend why. However it turns out that the jewelry was sent from her secret lover and that she has been cheating on her husband all along. In the text “The Prophets Hair” by Salman Rushdie, the hair is a priceless religious artifact that falls into the hands of a family. This hair eventually drives the father, Hashim, mad and causes the downfall of the entire family. In all of these stories, there is an important symbol that doesn’t seem to be worth very much at first but ends up having an underlying value that alters each of the speakers lives.