Analysis of a Rose for Emily

Analysis of A Rose for Emily

Miss Emily represents the "old south." She is stubborn and she refuses to accept that the world is changing around her. The people of the town often gossip about Miss Emily. The use of symbolism and foreshadowing is a major component of the story.

Miss Emily represents the "old south." She lives in her father's house with her Negro servant Tobe. She has lived in the town and has been a member of the community for as long as anyone can remember. The people of the town feel that "Miss Emily had been a tradition, a duty, and a care; a sort of hereditary obligation upon the town." (3) Miss Emily is stubborn and refuses to accept that the world around her has changed. An example of her stubbornness is the refusal to pay her taxes. Miss Emily states," I have no taxes in Jefferson. Colonel Sartoris explained it to me." (8) Another example of Miss Emily's refusal to change to society around her is "when the town got free postal delivery, Miss Emily alone refused to let them fasten the metal number above her door and attach a mailbox to it." (50) Miss Emily had been considered a pillar of the community at one point in time. Times have changed and the community "Believed that the Grierson's held themselves a little to high for what they were." (25) This tells the reader that the Grierson's social status is not what it once was. Her father raised Miss Emily alone. She believed that she was in a higher class than anyone else in the town.

The townspeople talk of "all the young men her father had driven away." (28) Her father may have felt that no man was good enough for his daughter. When Miss Emily did meet someone, Homer Baron, there was talk of him being gay. "Homer himself had remarked - he liked men, and it was known that he drank with the younger men in the Elk's Club." (42) The women of the town liked to gossip about Miss Emily. They talked about her getting married to Homer Baron. People even gossiped about Miss Emily and Homer Baron having a relationship. They thought that it was a "disgrace to the town and a bad example to the young people." (44) They thought that her being with a man that was not Southern would go against her Southern upbringing. Miss Emily's neighbor thought that she was a terrible housekeeper because there was a smell coming from her house. The men of the community did not want to get involved. They had respect for Miss Emily. Instead of confronting Miss Emily, in the middle of the night the men snuck over to Miss Emily's house and sprinkled lime everywhere. In just a few weeks the smell was gone. The women also talked of the possibility of Miss Emily being insane because "her great Aunt had gone completely crazy." (25)

Symbolism is a major component of Faulkner's story. Literature: An Introduction Into Reading and Writing defines symbolism as "A specific word, idea, or object that may stand for ideas, values, persons, or ways of life." (2006) One example of symbolism is that Miss Emily refuses to accept changing times. She symbolized a completely different era. Faulkner uses symbolism to compare the Grierson house with Miss Emily's social status and her refusal to change. The house is described as "white,

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