A Rose For Emily Old South Analysis

William is a productive writer with abundant well-known works, among which an instructive and thoughtful one is A Rose for Emily. Seen from the surface, it is a short story about the simple lifespan of a lady named Emily. Due to father’s rejection of her pursuers, Emily is still single in her thirty. When her father dies, leaving her only a big house, she hates bitterly for he deprives Emily of love and happiness. After that, she is engaged in the romantic relationship with a man named Homer. Homer does not want to marry her, so Emily poisons him to death. In fact, through the different personalities of Emily and Homer, it is quite apparent that these two people hold opposite value concepts. Analyzed according to character, A Rose for Emily

Emily receives the traditional Southern education and the excessive protection of her father. Consequently, she remains the characteristics of the nobility of the old South. That is to say that she is the representative of the Old South. While Homer is a foreman, and he not only represents the new living state of the new South but also stands for the new thoughts of the new era of industrialization. Therefore, the distinct points of the two main characters in A Rose for Emily actually imply the differences of the Old South and the New South. On the one hand, according to the differences between Emily and Homer, the Old South and the New South appears differently in value conceptions. The Old South, like Emily, tends to maintain the inherent arrogance, and they believe that they are superior to the other ordinary people even when the society changes a lot. The New South appears different, they, represented by Homer, are approachable. For example, Homer gets along well with almost everybody in the town. On the other hand, the Old South and the New remain distinct in their attitude towards life. Homer comes to Jefferson to construct the town, and his construction turns totally different from the big house of Emily. Emily always lives in her big house alone, while Homer is constructing the new infrastructure. It can be implied that Homer can apply to the changes of the world quite well, but Emily nearly sees none change. Consequently, there is apparent contradiction between the two characters. Under the influence of the new industrialization, the New South can adapt to the change in life while the Old South still insist their traditional attitude and