A Withering Rose inWilliam Faulkner’s, A Rose For Emily

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William Faulkner’s, A Rose For Emily, encompasses various themes, but the theme most prevalent in the short story is decay. Time waits for no one, and for Miss Emily Grierson, time left her behind. A Rose For Emily depicts the motionless decay of a woman stuck in time, as her concept of reality is lost. Throughout the story Faulkner characterizes Emily and the atmosphere around her as addled and withered. In the short story, A Rose For Emily, by William Faulkner, a woman is ultimately overcome by grief and in turn loses all conception of reality, becoming lost in her own world that is fading with her.
Miss Emily’s erratic behavior first surfaced after her father’s death. Possibly brought on by grief, but better explained as insanity, Miss Emily denied her fathers death for three days. When Mr. Grierson died it left Emily alone and substantially aided in her deterioration. Because of her fathers possessive nature no man came close to courting her, and so she was left to confide to herself becoming alienated from the rest of the town. This alienation and confinement left Miss Emily st...

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