A Rose For Emily Literary Analysis Essay

Rose for Emily: A Literary Analysis
In a Rose for Emily by William Faulkner, we meet a young woman that is surrounded by death. As the story progresses we find more and more death and decay throughout Emily’s life. This leads to the theme of Death and Dying. Through-out the short story the theme of Death and Dying is represented through many symbols. These symbols include dust, the house and Emily herself. This essay will examine how each of these symbols represent Death and Dying.
A shroud of dust hangs over the story, underscoring the decay and decline that figure so prominently. The dust throughout Emily’s house is an appropriate companion to the faded life within. A great example of this is when the aldermen arrive to try and secure Emily’s annual tax payment, the house smells of “dust and disuse.” Even

as they sat down dust swirled around them and became quite visible. In a way, the dust is a protective presence for Emily. This can be found when the community was trying to get into the locker bedroom. At this point in the story it can be said that “dust “was giving up its last secret that it had kept so well. There was nothing that could have penetrated Emily’s murky relationship with reality, just like the dust that lingered in her life.
The house itself was said to be a monument just like Emily. The only remaining emblem of a dying antebellum way and power. The outside is large, square and lavishly decorated with the inside matching. The street and neighborhood that was once part of the elite, but now seems that to have fallen. The neighborhood had changed and was no longer what it used to be. This almost personifies the idea of the death of the South. When Emily took over the house it went into further disrepair. The house was an extension of Emily. It is “stubborn and coquettish decay” to the town’s residents. They even complained about and the complaining became worse because of the smell. It was a testament to the endurance and the preservation of tradition; however, it too fell. Just like with the dust the house fell. Its only rightful owner died and it too gave up Miss Emily’s secret. That secret of course was Homer’s body in the house.
Through the mysterious figure of Emily Grierson, Faulkner conveys the struggle that comes from trying to maintain tradition in the face of widespread, radical change.

This radical change came in many forms. In the story it tells how Emily refused to let the town put numbers on her house for post office. This was a spit in the face the government and even more in the face of progress. Emily herself was a tradition, steadfastly staying the same over the years despite many changes in her community. This was shown by the fact that she still showed young children how to paint china. As time went on she had less and less students till she closed her doors. The fact was that painting china was no longer the thing to do and Miss Emily kept it alive as long as she could. She is in many ways a mixed blessing. As a living monument to the past, she represents the traditions that people wish to respect and honor; however, she is also a burden and entirely cut off from the outside world, nursing eccentricities that others cannot understand. This came in many forms from Sartoris forgiving taxes to not telling the women doesn’t smell to even waiting to go into her

house.