A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner is mostly read and regarded as a study in abnormal psychology. It is also seen as a gothic horror. In fact, Faulkner even described it himself as a “ghost story.” In the story, Emily Grierson lived in an upscale neighborhood where she is regarded as eccentric, traditional and outdated. Her object of affection is Homer Barron, a charming new comer in town, who had fallen victim to Emily’s plan to prevent him from leaving her side forever.
In relating Faulkner’s character Emily to the author with Freud’s psychoanalysis, it can be concluded that Faulkner interest in necrophilia and sexual abnormalities lies in his subconscious. Faulkner is known to discuss and include themes of war, racism, social class, gender, war, necrophilia and psychological ailments in most, if not all, of his works.
In psychoanalyzing the poem, one might immediately ask the question: “Why would Emily do what she did? Why would she poison her beau and bed him?” This quote by Donald Akers (1999) thoughtfully answers the question, “Freud theorized that repression, especially if it is sexual in nature, often results in psychological abnormality.” The story shows that Emily has repressed sexual desires which resulted to her abnormal psyche. The repression of her childhood actually contributed to her necrophilia as seen on the story. Akers continues, “In the story, Emily's overprotective, overbearing father denies her a normal relationship with the opposite sex by chasing away any potential mates” (1999). The story clearly narrated how Emily’s father dominated her by trying to control her and drive away all her suitor. Even after his death, his power over Emily remains as she continues to live in the past.
Fetterly (1999) thinks that Faulkner establishes an account of what society does to women, “Not only is ‘A Rose for Emily’ a supreme analysis of what men do to women by making them ladies; it is also an exposure of how this act in turn defines and recoils upon men.” Faulkner is known to address gender issues. In fact, during the time that he had written this story, the South had just emerged out of slavery and is struggling between the new and the old order. Fetterly (1999) mentions a specific scenario in the story where it showed how Faulkner illustrated the struggle between the old and new order, “It is equally the point of the dynamic implied between the tableau of Emily and her father and the tableau which greets the men who break down the door of that room in the region above the stairs.”
The scenario shows how Emily is trapped in the past where the men break down the door and the corpse of Homer Barron and Emily’s deed are revealed. Even after Emily’s father died, he has still consumed her. Fetterly puts it in a more understandable terms, “It is as if, after her father's death, she has reversed his act of incorporating her by incorporating and becoming him, metamorphosed from the slender figure in white tothe obese figure in black whose hair is ‘a vigorous iron-gray, like the hair of an active man’” (1999). Emily has now turned into a domineering and controlling individual where her control stems from keeping Homer Barron, immobile and dead, by her side forever.
Another work by Norman Holland (1972) suggested a double meaning on Faulkner’s title. The rose may be a metaphor of a sexual nature which pertains to Emily’s genitals. Holland also mentions the house of Emily described in the story – decaying above cotton wagons with the smell of gasoline. It also reflects what has become of Emily. It also takes on a genital meaning for Holland where the house also represent’s Emily’s rose, “bequeathed and discovered and becomes a charnel-house flower all in a breath” (295).
It seemed that in this regard, Faulkner takes the context of the society during his time to a horrifying story of control and entrapment. Indeed, the story is a direct product of Faulkner’s subconscious – his thoughts regarding repressed sexual desires and society’s struggle to cope with the new order. Consciously or not, Faulkner seemed to have been affected by the repression society has infused – both sexually (interactions with opposite sex) and socially (social classes). The question now to ask is: In Faulkner’s interest in the abnormal psyche and sexual repression, do these issues also lie in the author’s subconscious?
Works Cited
Akers, Donald. “Overview of ‘A Rose for Emily’’’ Short Stories for Students, 1999. N.p. The Gale Group. Web. 26 July 2012.
Fetterley, Judith. “Judith Fetterley on Sexual Politics in ‘A Rose for Emily’" Bloom’s Major Short Story Writers: William Faulkner.Infobase, 1999. 24-36. Literary Reference Center. Web. 26 July 2012.
Holland, Norman N. "Fantasy and Defense in Faulkner's 'A Rose for Emily.'" Hartford Studies in Literature 4 (1972): 1-35. Print
Yahalom, Tali, College Students’ Performance Suffer From Lack of Sleep. 2007. Web. U.S.A. Today. Retrieved September 16, 2011 from http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2007-09-16-sleep-deprivation_N.htm
