Rose For Emily Symbolism

By using unconventional plot structure, Faulkner has created a complex method of storytelling to explore the moral shortcomings of Southern values and ethics during the American Civil War through the means of Emily, a character who is socially and mentally trapped in the old

In Williams Faulkner 's ‘A Rose for Emily’, a local narrator provides a very personally nuanced and chronologically disjoined narrative. Through this lens Faulkner uses the imagery and symbols of the Grierson home, Emily as a monument, Homer’s body, in “A Rose for Emily” to convey the theme of change vs. decay, especially as it relates to the American South and its traditions. Although he describes particular individuals within Jefferson (Miss Emily, the older men and ladies, the town leaders), he seems to be using them as symbols for the larger issues that the South was facing at the turn of the twentieth century. This paper discusses how Faulkner uses imagery and metaphor to highlight on the necessity of adaptation in changing times. This

Meeting Homer Barron was her biggest change from her old self, because her father did not allow her be in any relationships, but she went out in public with Homer “driving in the yellow-wheeled buggy and the matched team of bays from the livery stable” (454). Consequently, this was only because she was living in her own reality and believed that Homer would be the one to marry her. Homer was “not a marrying man” (454) and would not marry Emily, but she refused to accept the denial of marriage from him, so she killed him to keep him with her forever. She stayed within her house to keep herself in the Old South. When she told the men to see Colonel Sartoris, she was not aware that “Colonel Sartoris had been dead for almost ten years” (452) at that point.

Foreshadowing often appears at the beginning of a story, or a chapter, and helps the reader develop expectations about the coming events in a story. William’s stories include virtues of the the Old South, which take a look at tragic flaw of slavery, and this sparked many of his stories. The Old South was an adherence to the code of chivalry and a belief in natural superiority of the white aristocracy. Throughout his stories, Faulkner contrats notions of the Old South and its decaying values with the newer ideas of the New South. Beginning the story, Faulkner explains how a terrible smell starts to conjure up from Miss Emily Grierson’s house.

Although her father’s death had changed her life, Emily is unable to let go of the past and is unwilling to accept any form of change. When her father passed away, Emily was in the state of denial. She didn’t believe her father was dead. The day after his death, the townspeople gathered at her house to show sympathy and “Miss Emily met them at the door, dressed as usual and with no trace of grief on her face.” She showed no signs of sorrow and “she

When focusing clearly on literary devices such as tone, repetition, imagery, and allusions, the audience may understand clearly the reasoning to wy these poems were written. Whitman’s poems were highly based on events from the Civil War which explains the history of the United States from a different perspective. Focusing on the literary devices above not only gives one the visualization of how the Nation was built, but how devastating it was

The Ominous Town of Jefferson, Mississippi “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner is a short story that uses elements of setting to reinforce the plot and development of the short story as a whole. This story is told from a first-person plural point-of-view which contributes to the setting, and therefore contributes to the meaning of the story. William Faulkner was a Southern author, and his stories took place in the fictional town of Jefferson, Mississippi. “A Rose for Emily” is told through the collective voice of the townspeople as is shown with the frequent use of plural pronouns, “We did not say she was crazy then.” (137). This shows the reader that the townspeople viewed themselves as one plural body in comparison to the singularity of Miss Emily.

She does not care that she kills someone or when someone she admits to loving dies, shows no grief or caring. After Daisy kills Myrtle while driving, she continues to drive and does not seem to regret her decision. Nick describes Daisy and Tom after the accident by saying that “they weren't happy [...] and yet they weren't unhappy” (Fitzgerald 145). Basically, Daisy feels indifferent about the fact she killed her husband’s mistress. Another example of Daisy’s carelessness is when Gatsby, a man she says she loved, dies, and she does not attend his funeral or show any signs of grief.

Faulkner´s story “A Rose for Emily” is more or less a classic Southern Gothic tale. He developed the major idea of death or if you want a murder, in a really gripping and astonishing story with an unexpected end. Faulkner used the Modernist narrative techniques as shifts in time and flashbacks. He generally described Emily´s life but he gave a reader an incomplete picture of her life. The reader have to read between the lines if he wants to know why did she stay alone, why did not she like any changes or why did she kill her sweetheart.

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 schemed into their story that has meaning. It is up to the reader to interpret the meaning of the symbols and their significance to the story. William Faulkner wrote, “A Rose for Emily,” which was published April 30, 1930. He used a great deal of symbolism in this story.