“A Rose for Emily” is a short Southern Gothic story by William Faulkner, first published in 1930. The story is about the life of the titular character, Emily Grierson, as seen through the eyes of the residents of Faulkner’s fictitious city, Jefferson, Mississippi. With this in mind, the city of Jefferson is just as important as Emily. By the same token, I believe that Jefferson becomes a character in and of itself. As we learn about Emily through the years, we also learn a lot about Jefferson. Faulkner employs the setting as a way to weave through the post-Civil War Southern society. Jefferson is an important factor in understanding the characters, their actions and motivations. Before I go in depth on “A Rose for Emily”, I would like to …show more content…
As the years went by, the tragedy that is Emily Grierson just kept on escalating. Not only is the Grierson House decrepit, but so is she. Provided that her father’s death loomed over like a shadow for the rest of her life. She never really got to develop like a normal person. Thus, Emily doesn’t really know or have a way to truly express herself. There are terrible secrets everywhere, like Homer Barron’s corpse. Barron’s corpse shows how detached and unresolved Emily was. She was afraid of letting go of the things she loved. She never accept her Mr. Grierson’s death. So, she decided to do some necrophilia in order to preserve Homer. Furthermore, Faulkner uses a variety of worlds to humanize Emily as the story progress. For one thing, Emily is initially described as “a fallen monument,” (Meyer 54) and “a tradition, a duty, and a care.” (Meyer 55). These are not words to describe a person, these are words that a describe an object. In a lot of ways, Emily was not seen as a person by anyone. This also explains why she locked herself in her house for the rest of her life. The House becomes more dilapidated as Emily’s life gets worse. Overall, I think The House is the perfect representation of the themes that Faulkner explored.
“A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner is a captivating story about the past, isolation, and America. Faulkner perfectly captures the time period through his literary techniques, particularly the Grierson House. He builds his themes in and around the House. The Grierson is a perfect representation of Emily, change, and society. For this reason, it is a physical