William Faulkner 's A Rose For Emily

During the 1860’s, slavery was a huge part of life in the South and its effects touch many people and their families. Almost one-third of all Southern families owned slaves (Wright, 1900). Even though slavery was widespread throughout the

The Antebellum south, or merely the word plantation, conjures images of white, columned manses shaded by ancient oaks bowed beneath the weight of Spanish moss and centuries. Somehow these monuments of Greek revivalist architecture sparkle in their ivory-coated siding, even while the trunks of their aged arboreal neighbors hide under layer upon soggy layer of dense, green lichen. The white house is a reflection of the inhabitants, its cleanliness in the damp, soiled environment standing as a stark reminder of the hegemony governing the lives of those living not in the house, but hidden nearby. L’Abri, the plantation

Blassingame, John W. The Slave Community: Plantation Life in the Antebellum South. New York: Oxford University Press, 1972.

The United States underwent vast transformations, especially in the South. New political, social, and economic systems emerged that transformed the South from a rural, slave-based society, to an increasingly urban, industrialized, free labor society. The changes to the social, political, and economic landscape of the South prompted an unprecedented era of racial violence throughout the region (Jett, p.40).

What does this account reveal about the nature of slavery and how slavery affected southern society?

White southerners are characterized alike to that of the released slaves in Cobb’s excerpt. They felt “conquered, ruined, impoverished, and oppressed” when they “returned to their quiet homes under the plighted faith of a soldier’s honor that they should be protected so long as they observed the obligations imposed upon them of peaceful law-abiding citizens.” They were dispossessed “of [their] property and ruined in [their] estates by the results of the war. They had hardly anything to look forward to with a “gloomier future” in the near future.

The further slaves went from the Chesapeake region of Virginia, the worse they were treated. As they went “deeper” south and into the the white planter aristocracy,

After effectively exploring the letters, diaries, and notebook of over 160 slave owning white plantation families, the author James J. Roark takes all of their responses and morphs it into the book “Masters without Slaves”. He writes about the blacks, weevils, scalawags, and debts of the Southern states but also incorporates the Southern views on secession, the Confederate government, federal reconstruction, and Emancipation.

Miss Emily became ever more tied to the grand house, following the death of her father. From the external perspective, Faulkner makes the house to be "an eyesore among eyesores". (Faulkner 79) The grand house is set amongst cotton gins that were put up after homes that had previously resided on the street. Miss Emily's house is essentially the picture of decay amongst the other buildings.

As an image of decrepit grandeur, Miss Emily’s house is used to symbolize Miss Emily’s character herself, the historical setting in which the story takes place, and some of the story’s central themes. Described as “a big, squarish frame house that had once been white, decorates with cupolas and spires and scrolled balconies” (Faulkner 1), the house is ornate and grand in design, even being located on what was once an exclusive street in Jefferson. However, over time, it had become dilapidated and unkempt, with the interior being dark and full of dust, possessing “a close, dank smell” (Faulkner 1). Similarly, Miss Emily was once a young lady of high standing, opulent in her own ways, but slowly aged and lost her grandeur, becoming “a small, fat woman” (Faulkner 1) whose hair was turning grayer as the days went by. Much like her home, Miss Emily was losing her charm over time, showing that her character was stubbornly grasping on to the idea that she still retained an image of splendor she no longer possessed, all while isolating herself from the rest of the town.

Miss Emily Grierson comes from an old, traditional, aristocratic southern family. She lives her life away from

In conclusion, Miss Grierson is able to maintain her ways of the Old South, she refused to abide to the new laws from the new generation. Emily Grierson is a symbol of the Old South. William Faulkner sympathizes Miss Grierson by showing us that she was an elderly woman who refused to change her ways, and in the end she is recognized as a fallen

The family of Emily, the Griersons, was a very influential and important family in Jefferson. The townspeople seem to obey a certain hierarchy within which Emily was highly placed.

The story begins with the writer describing Miss Emily’s house, which was once nice and luxurious but has become hideous looking. Her house was once apart of the most select in the city, it was now covered with mold. “It was a big, squarish frame house that had once been white, decorated with cupolas and spires and scrolled balconies in the heavily lightsome style of the seventies, set on what had once been our most select street.” (Lines 6-9) With the rebuilding of the Old South her house is left alone instead of making any improvements towards it, therefore emphasizing the habits Miss Emily is refusing to let go of.

Pingping Yang, author of “A Road to Destruction and Self-destruction: The Same Fate of Emily and Elly,” describes her house as being representative of how the hegemonic lifestyle thrust upon her must be followed because “The noble parentage requires her to follow traditional rules with no doubts and behave as an elegant genteel lady, so she has to live in this house with different kinds of taboos, like a poor bird in a cage” (Yang 1850). Emily tries desperately to hold on to her values with a tight fist, but the ever-changing world suggests that some actions need to be taken to prevent others from taking away her traditions and lifestyle. This is evidenced when she turns away the tax collectors who come to her house after she ignores the letters being sent to her about the unpaid dues her family has in Jefferson. With her father dead and no husband to speak of, Emily handles what would normally be a male responsibility herself. She speaks over the collectors and sternly tells them “See Colonel Sartoris. I have no taxes in Jefferson” before asking her manservant to put them out (Faulkner 795). Nick Melczarek, author of “ Narrative Motivation in Faulkner’s ‘A Rose for Emily,’” suggests this is where Faulkner begins to insert the stream of consciousness, because while the narrator is “seeking to escape blame,” he is “able to admit what the townspeople found and hint at their own possible