A Rose for Emily
A Rose for Emily," is a story whose author is William Faulkner and narrated through a third person point of view. When one lives his/her life in the public eye, it is often difficult to live up to everyone's expectations and prospect. In this essay, the reader will see society's view on Emily and how it can be critical and destructive.
The story starts off with Ms. Emily's funeral. It states that both men and women attended her funerals "the men through a sort of respectful affection for a fallen monument, the women mostly out of curiosity to see the inside of her house, which no one save an old man-servant--a combined gardener and cook--had seen in at least ten years"(330) As we can see, Ms. Emily was sort of like a mystery to citizens of the town. A fallen monument suggests she was at first someone of high esteem to the eyes of townspeople; however, the people do not hold that respect for her anymore because she was left a mystery behind her.
Miss Emily Grierson was the socialite of her town and indeed there was a great amount of respect for her that she needed to uphold. She was a teacher, and her father was Colonel Sartoris, a war hero, so she must maintain this dignity. She not only represented her family name but, in a sense, the people of her town. Because she was such a dominant figure the, townspeople had put her on a pedestal and are very judgmental of her actions. During the time in which her father was alive; Emily was seen as a figure to be admired but never touched. There were many guys who were in love with Emily, but according to her father none were suitable enough. Emily was admired as an idol in the townspeople's eyes. The author continuously uses symbolism in the story. When the deputation came to her house for her taxes, Faulkner describes how the house and Ms. Emily looked. "Only Miss Emily's house was left, lifting its stubborn and coquettish decay above the cotton wagons and the gasoline pumps-an eyesore among eyesores." This statement explains how the house gives off such a depressing mood. The house was like its her owner, and happiness and joy have not been there for many years. Stubborn and coquettish are used to describe a woman because the owner of this house is a woman; the author used these words to portray Emily and the way she lived in her house.
Emily wanted to get married and have a family like any other woman; townspeople were losing their hopes for her marriage as she was in her thirties, and she was not in any real relationship. When Ms. Emily was younger, her deceased father used to force away all the young men that were in love with her. The summer after her fathers death, she fell in love with a laborer from the north by the name of Homer Barron. Everyone in the town was whispering about their relationship and wondering if they were married. This relationship seems odd because Homer was from a lower class family, and he was gay .After a while, Emily and Homer stopped seeing each other. The townspeople thought that Homer and Emily had decided to get married. The townspeople then proceeded to analyze her relationship until Ms. Emily then died a while after. They didn't know she had been sick. After they bury her, they know that there is one room that has not been opened. So after they decently bury, her they go to see the room in her house. When they open the room, they are greeted by great amounts of dust. They also explain that the "room is decked and furnished as for a bridal: upon the valance curtains of faded rose color, upon the rose-shaded lights, upon the dressing table, upon the delicate array of crystal and the man's toilet things backed with tarnished silver, silver so tarnished that the monogram was obscured." They also see a man's collar, tie, suit, shoes, and discarded socks.
"Then shockingly, laying right there in the bed [is] the man. For a long while we just [stand] there, looking down at the profound and fleshless grin. The body had apparently once lain in the attitude of an embrace. What is left of him, rotted beneath what [is] left of the nightshirt, had become inextricable from the bed in which he [lay]; and upon him and upon the pillow beside him lays that even coating of the patient and biding dust. Then we [notice] that in the second pillow [is] the indentation of a head. One of us [lifts] something from it, and leaning forward, that faint and invisible dust dry and acrid in the nostrils, we [see] a long strand of iron-gray hair." (396)
In this discovery, the townspeople realize what makes Emily unworthy of the esteem they had given her. When Emily became conscious that Homer would leave again, she had made sure he would always be there by killing him. In his death, Emily found eternal love which was something no one could ever take from her. Homer was gay, and he could have left her soon for a man. Emily killed Homer by giving him the rat poison. She often went to Homers bed and held his dead body in her arms till her death. This was the way that she got satisfaction and joy. Emily was used to be a metaphor of high esteem and greatness for everyone in town just like a monument, but now, she has fallen from her high level of respect. The townspeople neither like Emily nor hold in the least esteem for her any more. Emily, this fallen monument is viewing as a disgusted and revolting person in town ever.
Work Cited
Faulkner, William. A Rose for Emily. American 24-Karat Gold: 24 Classic American Short Stories. Sisko Yvonne. Addison Wesley Longman, Inc 2002 (330- 396)
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