"A Rose for Emily" is a short story by William Faulkner, first published in 1930. It tells the story of a woman named Emily Grierson, who lives in a small town in the South. Despite the fact that she is a recluse and keeps to herself, the townspeople are fascinated by her and often gossip about her.
The story begins with the news of Emily's death, and the townspeople gather to attend her funeral. As they reminisce about her life, it becomes clear that Emily was a mysterious and enigmatic figure. She was the last surviving member of a once-powerful and prominent family, and she lived in a grand old house that had been in her family for generations.
Despite her privileged upbringing, Emily's life was marked by tragedy and loss. Her father was overbearing and controlling, and after his death, Emily was left alone to deal with his debts and the upkeep of the family home. She also lost the man she loved, Homer Barron, who was a contractor from the North.
Despite these setbacks, Emily remained a strong and independent woman. She refused to be dictated to by the townspeople or to conform to their expectations of how a lady should behave. This made her a source of both admiration and fear among the townspeople.
One of the most striking aspects of "A Rose for Emily" is the way in which it portrays the relationship between the past and the present. The story is narrated by an anonymous voice that speaks in the past tense, and the events of the story are described as if they happened long ago. This creates a sense of distance between the reader and the events of the story, as if they are being told as a legend or a myth.
At the same time, the story is full of symbols and imagery that suggest the past is still very much present in the present. The most obvious example of this is the way in which Emily's house is described. It is a grand old mansion that is slowly deteriorating, with peeling paint and overgrown gardens. The house is a metaphor for Emily herself, who is a relic of the past, living in a world that has moved on without her.
In the end, "A Rose for Emily" is a poignant and thought-provoking story about the passage of time and the way in which the past can continue to haunt and influence the present. It is a powerful meditation on the human condition and the way in which we are all shaped by the events of our lives.
A Rose for Emily: Emily Grierson
The townspeople even prefer to believe that Emily's suitor, Homer Barron, will marry her, as they think she wants, even though he is quoted as saying, "he likes men, and he is not a marrying man. Her voice was dry and cold. He felt that many Southerners preferred to view their past in an unrealistically optimistic way. In all of these cases, roses show lasting emotion and caring, both for the recipient and the occasion. But soon, with the intervention of law and force, they bury him quickly and Miss Emily finally breaks down. She would not listen to them. The presence of a valance and lights colored in such a pleasant hue obscure the horror of Homer's death and Emily's necrophilia.
A Rose for Emily
A week later the mayor wrote her himself, offering to call or to send his car for her, and received in reply a note on paper of an archaic shape, in a thin, flowing calligraphy in faded ink, to the effect that she no longer went out at all. Think about the various reasons we send and receive flowers. We were a little disappointed that there was not a public blowing-off, but we believed that he had gone on to prepare for Miss Emily's coming, or to give her a chance to get rid of the cousins. The flower is associated with Venus and Aphrodite, goddesses of beauty and romance, respectively, in classical mythology. But what you want--" "I want arsenic.
A Rose for Emily: Summary, About & Setting
For example, Hall discusses how the sentence, "Thus she passed from generation to generation - dear, inescapable, impervious, tranquil and perverse has been considered misleading, but is in fact strategically placed to provide foreshadowing and unification of plot. The two female cousins came at once. And now Miss Emily had gone to join the representatives of those august names where they lay in the cedar-bemused cemetery among the ranked and anonymous graves of Union and Confederate soldiers who fell at the battle of Jefferson. As they recrossed the lawn, a window that had been dark was lighted and Miss Emily sat in it, the light behind her, and her upright torso motionless as that of an idol. The Narrator - Unnamed. None of the young men were quite good enough for Miss Emily and such. A Rose for Emily engages with the themes of clinging onto the times of the past and traditions and thus, resonates with the resistance to change.
A Rose for Emily Themes
She doesn't let the townsfolk add a mailbox to her property, even after the Colonel's death she refuses to pay taxes, and she holds herself separate from the townspeople. I don't care what kind. Therefore, with respect to such a vague description, Falkner only evokes an interruptive shade of the life of Miss Emily, wherein, subtly the narrator invokes the resistance from the side of Emily as a character, towards her incomprehensible life. This leads the reader to assume that she was an important figure in the town. A rose is a rose is a rose.
