Theme Of Death In A Rose For Emily

1832 Words4 Pages

Change is a difficult thing to accept, we often cling to age old traditions refusing to accept the new. Miss Emily Grierson of the short story, “A Rose for Emily,” is a monument to conservative values of the deep south of the nineteenth century. She lived her whole life grasping to the fallen ideals of the past and died refusing to allow herself to succumb to change. She clings to her old values to an extreme, hiding away in her decrepit home remaining as a focal point for gossip and intrigue for the small town of Jefferson.
The story begins with the citizens of the town going to Emily’s funeral and the narrator describing the death of Emily’s father. The local townsfolk then started to comfort Emily for her loss. However, she was becoming …show more content…

Death plays a major role in the development of the story and many of the story’s themes revolve around it. Death in the story, as it does in life, signifies the end of something. Emily’s father’s death ends her old way of life and the death of Emily herself symbolizes the end of deep southern tradition in the eyes of the townsfolk who call her a monument. Death also serves as a means to prevent change. Emily’s murder of her former beau, Homer, is Emily’s way of keeping with the tradition of marriage and the deep south’s idea of …show more content…

Such as how death takes an important role in the basis of the story and how it can change people. Miss Emily Grierson definitely fell victim to this idea, and death changed Miss Emily into a self-centered person with a twisted sense of right and wrong. The sweet lady the townsfolk once new, was now mentally ill, creating a good amount controversy around the town. However, Miss Emily 's estranged mind was not caused by disease, but by the way she was raised and events that transpired around her. When Emily only saw things through rose colored glasses, her mind became corrupted with only what she thought was good. What she thought was right in her twisted view of morality was poisoning the man she loved with arsenic and trapping him with her forever in the hope of maintaining the southern tradition of

Show More
Related

  • A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner vs How to Tell a True War Story by Tim O’Brien

    1553 Words  | 4 Pages

    Faulkner first tells that shortly after her father’s death Miss Emily’s sweetheart left her. Everybody in the town thought that Emily and this sweetheart of hers were going to be married. After her sweetheart left her the people of the town saw her very little. Faulkner then tells what might be viewed as the climax of the story next. He explains that one day Miss Emily went into town and bought rat poison. By revealing this so early on in the story it challenges the reader to use their imagination. The readers’ view of Miss Emily could now possibly be changed. It has changed from feeling sorry for this woman to thinking she is going to murder someone.

    Read More

  • William Faulkner's A Rose for Emily : Her Father is to Blame

    672 Words  | 2 Pages

    As time went on pieces from Emily started to drift away and also the home that she confined herself to. The town grew a great deal of sympathy towards Emily, although she never hears it. She was slightly aware of the faint whispers that began when her presence was near. Gossip and whispers may have been the cause of her hideous behavior. The town couldn’t wait to pity Ms. Emily because of the way she looked down on people because she was born with a silver spoon in her mouth and she never thought she would be alone the way her father left her.

    Read More

  • A Rose for Emily, by William Faulkner and The Yellow Wallpaper, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

    1222 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...s story he writes about how earlier in Emily’s life she refuses to let the town’s people in her house even though there is a strong odor that is coming from her property. In this section her father has just passed away and was abandoned by a man who she wanted to marry. This section she becomes very depressed. In section three it talks about how Emily is starting to come down with an illness after all of the depressing events she had to endure. In sections four and five Faulkner describes how there is fear throughout the towns people is that of which Emily is going to possibly poison herself. A while later she then she passes away. In section five is when the truth is revealed to the public about her sickness. Faulkner uses the view point of an unnamed town member while he uses a third person perspective to show the general corrosion of the southern town’s people.

    Read More

  • Theme of Murder in A Rose for Emily and Killings

    836 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the short story 'A Rose For Emily'; and the short story 'Killings'; people have been murdered and the motivations for the killings are understandable but never the less still murders. The reason for murder in 'A Rose For Emily'; is not as clearly shown as with 'Killings';, that story is a classic 'eye for an eye'; type story. The main character in 'A Rose for Emily'; (Emily) and the main character in 'Killings'; (Matt) both kill out of love, but the types of love seem to be different.

    Read More

  • Character Analysis of Emily Grierson in A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner

    554 Words  | 2 Pages

    When her father passed away, it was a devastating loss for Miss Emily. The lines from the story 'She told them her father was not dead. She did that for three days,' (Charter 171) conveys the message that she tried to hold on to him, even after his death. Even though, this was a sad moment for Emily, but she was liberated from the control of her father. Instead of going on with her life, her life halted after death of her father. Miss Emily found love in a guy named Homer Barron, who came as a contractor for paving the sidewalks in town. Miss Emily was seen in buggy on Sunday afternoons with Homer Barron. The whole town thought they would get married. One could know this by the sentences in the story ?She will marry him,? ?She will persuade him yet,? (Charter 173).

    Read More

  • The Resistance to Change

    995 Words  | 2 Pages

    As a person one might find that we follow a specific routine on the day to day basis. Sudden changes to these routines feels weird and out of place. In William Faulkner’s “A Rose For Emily” based in a fictional town called Jefferson taking place during the twentieth century. The time period is indeed an important factor because southern tradition was above all of the highest importance. This short story gives the audience details of life during that time in which they followed the values of southern tradition and the importance to never stray away from those traditions. The context of the story is laced with subliminal messages of humanities resistance to change.

    Read More

  • Decadence in Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily"

    745 Words  | 2 Pages

    The story is clearly an illustration of the passing of the old to the new, and of the real character of human nature - decadence. The townspeople had an equal share in the crime that Miss Emily committed, and they were instrumental in its cover-up. She is described as "dear, inescapable, impervious, tranquil, and perverse." (85) This description sums up the people's outlook of both her, and themselves in their willingness to embrace her. Even today the fetters of certain types of ignorance and other forms of evil acts are on view anywhere in the country if one looks. A Rose for Emily illustrates it in its purest form in its own time.

    Read More

  • Theme of Death in William Faulkner's A Rose for Emily

    1063 Words  | 3 Pages

    William Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily" is a tragic tale of a Southern aristocrat, Miss Emily Grierson, who is the subject of a town's obsession.  The narrator, a member of the town, tells the story of what transpires in a decaying old Southern house that is always under the watchful eye of the townspeople.  They witness Miss Emily's life, her father's death, her turn to insanity and the death of both her and her lover.  The theme of death runs throughout this tale, which is understandable considering the events that take place in the story.  Faulkner uses foreshadowing to foretell events that will transpire later in the story.  Because of this foreshadowing, a reader may not be shocked when a strange turn in the story occurs, because, it may seem familiar to him.  Faulkner's first use of foreshadowing begins with the death of Miss Emily.  The main character does not usually die in the first sentence of most works of fiction, but here Faulkner is foretelling the deaths of other characters that will follow.  The reader will learn more about Emily's life and death as the story unfolds.

    Read More

  • Symbolism in A Rose for Emily

    1236 Words  | 3 Pages

    Symbolism in literature is using an object to portray a different, deeper meaning in a story. Symbols represent ideas or qualities that the author has maneuvered into his or her story that has meaning. There can be multiple symbols in a story or just one. It is up to the reader to interpret the meaning of the symbols and their significance to the story. While reading a story, symbols may not become clear until the very end, once the climax is over, and the falling action is covered. In William Faulkner’s, “A Rose for Emily,” there are multiple examples of symbolism that occur throughout the story.

    Read More

  • Necrophilia in A Rose for Emily

    747 Words  | 2 Pages

    William Faulkner's short story, "A Rose for Emily" is often held as a literary classic due to Faulkner?s ability to play with our mind and emotions almost to the point of frustration. However, there is much more than mind games that Faulkner plays that makes this story great. Emily Grierson, the main character, is a strong-willed stubborn old bitty, who was quite odd, this alone is a reason for greatness. To fully understand why Emily is the way that she is one must look past the obvious and truly look at Emily. Emily Grierson has a mental condition that is just itching to be discovered.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Characterization In A Rose For Emily

    839 Words  | 2 Pages

    At the beginning of the story when her father died, it was mentioned that “[Emily] told [the ladies in town] that her father was not dead. She did that for three days, with the ministers calling on her, and the doctors, trying to persuade her to let them dispose of the body” (626). Faulkner reveals Emily’s dependency on her father through the death of her father. As shown in this part of the story, Emily was very attached to her father and was not able to accept that fact that he was no longer around. She couldn’t let go of the only man that loved her and had been with her for all those years. While this may seem like a normal reaction for any person who has ever lost a loved one, Faulkner emphasizes Emily’s dependence and attachment even further through Homer Barron. After her father’s death, Emily met a man name Homer, whom she fell in love with. While Homer showed interest in Emily at the beginning he became uninterested later on. “Homer himself had remarked—he liked men” (627) which had caused Emily to become devastated and desperate. In order to keep Homer by her side, Emily decided to poison Homer and keep him in a bedroom in her home. It was clear that she was overly attached to Homer and was not able to lose another man that she

    Read More

  • Characterization within A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner

    1062 Words  | 3 Pages

    William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” is a short story told from the point of view of an unnamed narrator and opens with the death of Miss Emily Grierson, an elderly woman that the reader quickly learns that the town views more as a character than an actual human being. Through flashbacks, the mysterious and haunting tale of Emily is revealed. As a child, Emily was the member of an aristocratic family, but has now long been living in relative poverty in the former grand home of her family after her father left her with no money. The product of the Civil War South, Emily never moved past the social customs of her youth, and refused to live according to modern standards. This becomes evident when she accepts the mayor’s hidden charity under the guise of her never owing taxes due to a lie that her father had loaned the town money and this was how the town would re...

    Read More

  • Death In A Rose For Emily

    737 Words  | 2 Pages

    As a child, Emily was unable make friends or even play outside because her father held his family to a much higher standard than other townspeople “The Griersons held themselves a little too high for what they really were” (Faulkner 36). Emily’s father, selfishly held Emily back from living, loving, and freedom. She was unable to find a soul mate because her father believed that “None of the young men were quite good enough for Miss Emily and such” (Faulkner 36). Because of this, Emily stuck close to the only man she’s ever known like a newborn to its mother. Emily and her father had such a close bond that when he died, for days she refused to believe he was dead, and she also refused to let the townspeople dispose of the body. For the townspeople, Emily’s reaction to her father’s death was quite normal, but for readers it was our first glimpse at her necrophilia.

    Read More

  • Theme of A Rose for Emily

    318 Words  | 1 Pages

    The theme of "A Rose for Emily" by William Faulkner is that people should let go of the past, moving on with the present so that they can prepare to welcome their future. Emily was the proof of a person who always lived on the shadow of the past; she clung into it and was afraid of changing. The first evident that shows to the readers right on the description of Grierson's house "it was a big, squarish frame house that had once been white, decorated with cupolas and spires and scrolled balconies in the heavily lightsome style of the seventies, set on what had once been our most select street." The society was changing every minutes but still, Emily's house was still remained like a symbol of seventieth century. The second evident show in the first flashback of the story, the event that Miss Emily declined to pay taxes. In her mind, her family was a powerful family and they didn't have to pay any taxes in the town of Jefferson. She even didn't believe the sheriff in front of her is the "real" sheriff, so that she talked to him as talk to the Colonel who has died for almost ten years "See Colonel Sartoris. I have no taxes in Jefferson." Third evident was the fact that Miss Emily had kept her father's death body inside the house and didn't allow burying him. She has lived under his control for so long, now all of sudden he left her, she was left all by herself, she felt lost and alone, so that she wants to keep him with her in order to think he's still living with her and continued controlling her life. The fourth evident and also the most interesting of this story, the discovery of Homer Barron's skeleton in the secret room. The arrangement inside the room showing obviously that Miss Emily has slept with the death body day by day, until all remained later was just a skeleton, she's still sleeping with it, clutching on it every night. The action of killing Homer Barron can be understood that Miss Emily was afraid that he would leave her, afraid of letting him go, so she decided to kill him, so that she doesn't have to afraid of losing him, of changing, Homer Barron would still stay with her forever.

    Read More

  • Literary Elements in A Rose For Emily

    1692 Words  | 4 Pages

    In "A Rose for Emily," William Faulkner's use of setting and characterization foreshadows and builds up to the climax of the story. His use of metaphors prepares the reader for the bittersweet ending. A theme of respectability and the loss of, is threaded throughout the story. Appropriately, the story begins with death, flashes back to the past and hints towards the demise of a woman and the traditions of the past she personifies. Faulkner has carefully crafted a multi-layered masterpiece, and he uses setting, characterization, and theme to move it along.

    Read More

More about Theme Of Death In A Rose For Emily

Open Document