English
Symbolism is a very important aspect of William Faulkner’s short story “The Rose for Emily.” The central figure, Miss Emily, like her crumbling manor in Jefferson, is a symbol of the rapidly degenerating aristocracy of the South after the Civil War.
At the beginning of the story, the narrator, who represents the voice and opinion of the townspeople, says “Alive Miss Emily had been a tradition, a duty and a care.” (Section I). She belonged to a generation that was wealthy and was looked up to with awe. Her house was in one of the most select streets in town, “decorated with cupolas and spires and scrolled balconies.” (Section 1) But the decrepit condition of that house, juxtaposed with modern developments “cotton wagons and gasoline pumps” (Section 1) symbolized Miss Emily’s state of isolation and neglect. She was slim and beautiful in her youth but had become bloated and obese with age. She no longer belonged to the age that she lived in, but she lived life on her own terms. This is evident from two important facts revealed to the reader; firstly the fact that she refused to pay taxes since she did not leave the house and secondly when she refused to reveal the reason behind her requirement for poison. She did not allow the authorities to install a mailbox and a number to her house and thus kept change and progress at bay.
Homer Barron’s forty year old corpse locked up in a room upstairs is the final symbol of Emily’s need to hold on to the past and deny death. She had refused to accept her father’s death earlier and in the case of Homer she slept beside him even years after he had died.
The whole town went to Emily’s funeral out of “respectful affection for a fallen monument.” (Section 1)
Work Cited
Faulkner William. “A Rose for Emily” accessed 21 July 2016 from
http://resources.mhs.vic.edu.au/creating/downloads/A_Rose_for_Emily.pdf
Works Cited
Kellogg’s Sugar Frosted Flakes: They’re Gr-r-reat. 1982 Accessed on December 8, 2015
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxHK7z99zYo
Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes: Show Your Stripes. 2015 Accessed on December 8, 2015
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsCp4XUs2ps
