Zijiao (2291) says that A Rose for Emily is among William Faulkner’s famous short stories. The story illustrates the happening in Jefferson, Mississippi where there is a woman involved in a tragedy. Faulkner evokes dark images of murder, gloom, and terror in the story of Emily (William and Commins 1). The story has old process in deterioration, a murder victim, corpse, and necrophilia. Emily is a loner who kills Homer and embraces the victim without the knowledge of the community. The community has admiration towards Emily without the realization that the woman has housed a rotting corpse for many years. Emily manages to sleep with the corpse long enough before the community can find out. Emily poses as an aristocratic woman who behind the veil is a murderer and succeeds in retaining unspeakable secrets. The story has five sections that critically analyze the family dynamics (William and Commins 1). The story has the depiction of suspense, chronology of events, horror, and Emily’s loneliness that together makes the story intriguing (Du Fang 18).
In the first section according to Zijiao (2291), the community massively attends the burial of Emily Grierson. No has been in Emily’s house for many years apart from Lobe the servant. This is because Emily stopped giving lessons of China painting. There is a display of the well-established house undergoing decay in the presence of evolving modern technology in the neighborhood. The house was one of the best in the 1870’s; currently the house stands as unattractive in the face of continuing urbanization and restructuring in the town (Zijiao, 2292). William and Commins (3) cite that things have changed from the past to the present. For instance in the past, there was an agreement between Colonel Satoris and Miss Emily not to remit taxes. This was due to the situation of passion on of Emily's father, and the colonel considered it as unfair to request Emily to remit taxes. Consequently, Mr. Grierson assisted the community financially during his hey days (William and Commins (4). Currently, the new administration is not aware of the arrangement and request Emily to pay taxes like all the people in Mississippi. Emily has a hard time adjusting to the modern situation and accepting the opinion of the new administration.
In the second section, Du Fang(18) elucidate that two years on after the death of Emily’s father there is an awful smell that emanates from Emily’s house. Emily has not yet accepted the death of her father since she suffers loneliness and clings to the memory of her father. Emily resists an official inquiry to search the premise and eliminate the strong odor emanating from the house. Judge Stevenson orders sprinkling of lime along the foundation of the house during the night and the odor subsides after a couple of weeks (Du Fang 18). The community sympathizes with Emily since they can recall the situation of Emily’s aunt who succumbed to insanity. Additionally, Emily’s father drives off suitors to marry Emily, and that is the reason she leads a solitary life by the time she is 30 years old. At the event of Emily's father, there was no other procession left apart from the house contrary to the belief of the community.
In the third section, Zijiao (2292) asserts that Emily suffers a long period of loneliness after the death of his father. During the summer, a construction company under the directorship of Homer Baron undertakes a contract in the neighborhood. This contract entails paving the town’s sidewalk. Baron is a northerner who fancies the good things in life. Homer and Baron develop a love affair since the community can observe the two spending most of their weekends together as they have fun. The community admires the couple since Emily has found someone to help her forget her dark past. Emily uses her aristocracy to purchase arsenic poison at the drug store and offers a pretext “for rats” to the pharmacist (Du Fang 22).
In the fourth section, Zijiao (2293) has the perception that Emily will commit suicide by consuming the arsenic poison. Homer offers that his love affair with Emily has no intention of marriage. This infuriates the community who inform Emily’s relatives to come and put an end to the relationship. Du fang (24) enlighten that Emily purchases men's items from the store. This makes people believe on their soon nuptial since Homer disappears from the town. The community believes that his absence is a sign of preparation of Emily moving to join him at the North to keep off the perturbing cousins. Once the cousins leave Emily’s house, Homer enters the house of Emily never to be seen again. Later on, Emily puts on weight, stops giving a lesson in China painting, remains indoors, and fails to acknowledge the tax bill. Tobe is only person seen in and out of the house and one can notice the grey color of his hair. Zijiao (2293) find that Emily dies appears dead in an old room at the age of seventy-four.
In the last section, Du fang (25) observes that as soon as Tobe opens the door for the mourners he disappears since he is aware of the rotting corpse of Homer. This door has remained closed for more than forty years; this gives the community a chance to access the house. The community finds wedding clothes as well as the remains of Homer in the form of a skeleton. The community can see the figure of a head in the pillow and a long strand of Emily’s hair. The fact that Grierson denies Emily male companionship leads her to commit murder. Emily succeeds by keeping the information secret by using her aristocratic position and influence in the town.
Works Cited
Du, Fang. "Who Makes A Devil Out Of A Fair Lady? --An Analysis Of The Social Causes Of Emily's Tragedy In A Rose For Emily." Canadian Social Science 3.4 (2007): 18-24.
Faulkner, William, and Saxe Commins. A rose for Emily and other stories. New York: Editions for the Armed Services, 1970. Print.
Polk, Noel, and William Faulkner. A rose for Emily: William Faulkner. Fort Worth: Harcourt College Publishers, 2000. Print.
Zijiao, Song1. "Transitivity Analysis Of A Rose For Emily." Theory & Practice In Language Studies 3.12 (2013): 2291-2295
