The Central Theme and Symbolism of William Faulkner's A Rose for Emily

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.

Besides the desire of love, Emily also faces varies difficulty because of the ending of Civil War. Emily’s first problem is when the town minister begins to ask her to pay the taxes. Emily has not had to deal anything with tax since her father died. However, the town no longer accepts the allowance of the old minister to Emily. The town is trying to get into new and develop life. According to historian Charles Wilson on his article “Religion and the US South,” “[after the Civil War,] although most southerners continued to farm, live in rural areas and small towns and adapt many of their

Tradition controls the actions of both the town and Emily herself.  “A Rose for Emily” captures the importance tradition holds for her Southern community.  The Civil War was an issue of lifestyle.  Southerners hung to the lifestyle they had, with the slaves. Tradition was the reason Emily didn’t pay her taxes. Her father was aristocracy and paid no taxes , therefore , Emily refused. When the slavery era passed, the South fell, the lifestyle was torn apart and the economy changed.  Old-time families, like Emilie’s, lost their position with their

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.

“Alive, Miss Emily had been a tradition, a duty, and a care; a sort of hereditary obligation upon the town” (Faulkner 1). Emily, a member of the town’s elite class, relied upon her father when growing up and after his death, she refused to pay her taxes, stating that her father contributed much to society. But it was evident that she didn’t pay them because of a lack of maturity - financially and socially. When she was younger she pushes herself onto Homer Barron, a Northerner with no interest in marriage. Throughout the story, Emily is conflicted over societal change, and clings to her privileged manner even after finding herself in poverty. Yet, she becomes involved with a man from a lower social class, and a Northerner as well - hinting that he has different beliefs and values. The townspeople, however, believe the relationship it too modern when there is a possibility they are having physical relations despite not being serious about marriage. The community’s inability to commit to progress, contribute to the confused Emily’s decision. In A Rose for Emily, Faulkner uses the symbolism of Emily’s house and her hair to demonstrate her emotional instability and physical deterioration, illustrating the outcome of his story.

While the outside of her house mirrors her physical decay the interior of the house allows the reader a glimpse into her mental and emotional state. Even though the outside may still be somewhat beautiful and dominating with it's classic structure, the inside of the house smelling "of dust and disuse" and with furniture in which "the leather was cracked" (622)shows that the admirable elegance Miss Emily portrays is just a façade. From the "tarnished gilt easel" holding her fathers picture and the "tarnished gold head" of her cane to the "dim hall from which a staircase mounted into still more shadow" Faulkner uses the interiorof her house to allude to Miss Emily's flawed, dark and decaying mind. Miss Emily's appearance on her deathbed with "her gray head propped on a pillow yellow and moldy with age and lack of sunlight" (627) not only resembles the objects in her house covered in dust but also prepares the reader for the climax of the story. In the final scene when the townspeople find Homer in the room with "curtains of faded rose-color" and "rose colored lights" (627), the dark side of Miss Emily's rose-colored world is unveiled. Her obvious loneliness, recorded by the indention on the pillow next to Homer's body, makes her sin almost

Emily's father suppressed all of her inner desires. He kept her down to the point that she was not allowed to grow and change with the things around her. When “garages and cotton gins had encroached and obliterated…only Miss Emily's house was left, lifting its stubborn and coquettish decay above the cotton wagons and the gasoline pumps” (Rose 217). Even when he died, she was still unable to get accustom to the changes around her. The traditions that her and her father continued to participate in even when others stopped, were also a way that her father kept her under his thumb. The people of the town helped in

As the story progresses, the author decides to jump all the way to the beginning when miss Emily was still a young woman and her father was still alive. During that time, the town felt bad for poor miss Emily and thought that she was going to die with out a husband by her side, since her father didn’t like any men that liked his daughter.

Miss Emily also shows how she is living in the past when her father dies.  She told everyone that came to get his body that her father was still alive, she refused to believe he was dead.  However, she eventually was forced to give them his body.  "After her father's death, she looked like a girl 'with a vague resemblance to those angels in colored church windows-sort of tragic and serene.'  This suggest that she has already begun her entrance into the nether-world"(Rodriguez 1).  The people did not know what to make of Emily.  Many thought she was

There are many instances where Emily resists change, unable to let go of the Southern, antebellum lifestyle she grew up with. This creates a contrast between Emily and the rest of the town, which is progressing and modernizing as time goes by. Emily’s traditional nature puts an emphasis on her representation of the past. She actively resists modernization, choosing to reply to the mayor’s offer to call with a letter “on paper of an archaic shape, [written with] thin, flowing calligraphy in faded ink” (Faulkner 1). Emily’s actions represent the past and an inability to let go of it. She is stuck in the past, unwilling to accept the change that the future brings. Emily and her house are the last glimpses of the past in her town; as the town progresses, her house stood unmoving, “lifting its stubborn and coquettish decay above the cotton wagons” (Faulkner 1). The house continues to display the style of the past, despite the decay and progression of style. Emily and her house represent the past, when her house was new and in style. Emily’s resistance to change and longing for the past is appropriate, considering her age and upbringing. She is an older woman, who grew up during the Civil War era in the South. The reason the South fought in the Civil War was to protect their lifestyle at all costs. The South was unwilling to change, stubbornly clinging to the antebellum way of life. This philosophy shaped the

In William Faulkner's short story "A Rose for Emily," a series of interconnected events collectively represent a single theme in the story. Symbolism is the integral factor involved in understanding the theme. "A Rose for Emily's" dominant theme is the search for love and security, a basic human need which can be met unfavorably in equivocal environments. Faulkner's use of symbolism profoundly develops the theme of the story, bringing to light the issues of morality that arise from a young woman's struggle to find love.

In William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” the story is revolved around the character Emily Grierson. The story is told by the townspeople where Emily lives. These people are attending her funeral and pitching in memories and tales they remember from Emily’s life. It is through the collective voices and opinions of the crowd that the reader is able to interpret Emily’s struggles. With Emily Grierson’s choices the reader can tell that she is a dependant woman, with psychotic tendencies, and does not take the thought of change and rejection lightly.

Her entire life has been based on southern tradition implemented by the old generation, all of her decisions in life have been made in order to correctly conform to that tradition. If she conforms to modern standards, she loses all of the power and respect that was entitled to her. So, she does not conform, she gets rid of the new generation in order to keep herself sequested away from modern change. She protects herself from them so she can continue to live in denial that any change is necessary. For Miss Emily modern chage is unwanted and tradition is used to justify her denial. Miss Emily allows southern tradition to fester within herself, “She looked bloated, like a body long submerged in motionless water, and of that pallied hue” (220). She is barely living. Miss Emily no longer ventures outside, she is a walking corpse dwelling within a mousoleum structured to keep her rooted in southern tradition. She may have died of natural causes but it was not free of suffering. Miss Emily was slowly dying because she sequested heself away from any modern changes like paying her taxes. She cut herself off from the rest of the world in order to conform to tradition. Miss Emily’s slow march towards death is the same march the older generation faces. Just as Miss Emily refuses to give up her status and entitlement so do the older generation. Modern laws will be establish to blur the lines

Emily had depression and was dealing with it in her own way by closing herself off. Looks could be very deceiving and in this case, Emily surprised the town when she died. The townspeople realized that there was more to her than they thought and were quick to judge.

A Rose for Emily was written by William Faulkner, the story was written to show how the South has evolved, furthermore it is about a woman named Emily who refuses to accept change, as change is happening all around her. Emily is stuck in her ways and she functions as a symbol of the Old South as the town around her becomes more civilized and developed.