Brief Commentary on A Rose for Emily Essay

A Rose for Miss Emily

A Rose for Miss Emily is a sad but captivating story. As we read this story, the identity of the narrator is never revealed. So, we must view the story based upon what we read and draw our own conclusions as to what really happened.

Miss Emily was the socialite of the entire town. She was the only child of Mr. Grierson, who watched over her with a vengeance. Many a gentleman called to see Miss Emily, but there was not a serious suitor. Mr. Grierson did not feel that any suitor was good enough for his child.

The Grierson home was large as most homes were during the time period for their social standing. But now, the home was surrounded by new businesses namely cotton gins and the like. The home had started to lose its beauty and was in dire need of upkeep, which it did not get.

Emilys father dies and her only companion is the house servant Tobe. Miss Emilys father has died and she finds herself all alone. Not wanting to accept the fact that her father had passed she allowed him to remain in the home for three days. As visitors came to pay their respects, she denied the fact that her father was deceased. Finally, after the third day and the persuasion of her guests, she gave in and buried him. Here we get our first glimpse of her denial of death and the inability to accept it. (Conflict 1 denial of death)

As we continue in the story, taxes are due on the Grierson home. To Emilys rescue comes the town mayor, Colonel Sartoris, who to save face for Emily, decides that her father had been kind enough to loan the town money. Colonel Sartoris felt that the town along with Miss Emily would believe this story and all would be okay. He felt that he was helping Miss Emily in the only way he knew how, since money was a problem for her now. The Board of Aldermen for the town felt different and decided to pay Miss Emily a visit. As they entered the house, there was not a great deal of light and the house was musty and needed a good airing out. Miss Emily rebuffed the gentlemen and as she did not offer them the chance to sit, promptly dismissed them by reciting the words of Colonel Sartoris as to her taxes were paid. (Conflict 2 denial of taxes owed)

Finding herself free to do as she pleased, enter, Homer Barron. Mr. Barron was a Yankee, a big dark, ready man, with a big voice and eyes lighter than his face. Mr. Barrons job in Jefferson was that of a day laborer. It did not seem to take a long time before the towns people began to see Miss Emily and Mr. Barron together Alias, from the North comes a gentleman by the name of Homer Barron. No one in town seemed to think that this was the match of the century. Emily had been overprotected by her father and did not really know how to find true friends much less a lover. So when Mr. Barron came along, she fell head over hills in love. The towns people became concerned because it was a well known fact that Homer was not the marrying kind. This point now well made fell upon the ears of the ministers wife and she takes it upon herself to write a letter to Miss Emilys cousins in Alabama. The cousins decide to come to Jefferson to help Miss Emily and her affairs.

Miss Emily goes to the drug store for some rat poison but ends up buying arsenic. The entire town felt that Miss Emily was going to kill herself. During their visit Miss Emily makes a trip to the local jewelers and places an order for a mans silver toiletry set with the initials H.B. on them. This leads the town to believe that she and Mr. Barron were about to be married. The work of Mr. Homer Barron had now been completed in Jefferson and he leaves Jefferson, only to come back a few days later. Mr. Barron was seen entering the home of Miss Emily, never to be viewed alive again. He had his last meal in the Grierson home and arsenic was the main entre. Miss Emily did not want Mr. Barron to leave her, so she decided she would keep him with her forever. His last resting place would be in the bedroom they were to share. (Conflict 3, denial of being left alone, unloved and untouched by causing Mr. Barrons death)

Miss Emily began to change, allowing her hair through the years to be cut short, her weight gain was noticeable and her hair had turned a beautiful gray. Now she was seventy four and only Mr. Tobe was coming and going from the house to the market and such. A glimpse of Miss Emily could be caught from time to time from one of her windows in the downstairs of her home. She had not used the upstairs for sometime now and had taken up residence in one of the downstairs bedrooms. The time had come when she grew sick and eventually died with only Mr. Tobe was there to care for her.

After her death, Mr. Tobe allowed the visitors at the front door to come in and quietly left out the back door and never returned nor was seen anymore.

After the funeral of Miss Emily the people from Jefferson, entered the home that they had not been welcomed for almost forty years. As they ascended the steps they found an unexpected viewing. Mr. Barron was in the bedroom that the two were to share. There still dressed in his nightshirt, his bridegroom suit still pressed and ready, Mr. Barron lay upon the bed, quite dead. There still seemed somehow to be a smile upon his face.

Upon taking in all of the newly found scenery, the pillow next to Mr. Barron held the final tidbit of information. Looking upon the pillow next to Mr. Barron was the second pillow. It seemed to have been used as there was a hollow place in the middle as if the person had just laid their head there and left a strand of long gray hair. Could this be necrophilia? (Necrophilia is sexual activity with a corpse.) No one would ever know.

The Rose to me symbolized the love that never was to come to full bloom in Miss Emilys life.

The title] was an allegorical title; the meaning was, here was a woman who had had a tragedy, an irrevocable tragedy and nothing could be done about it, and I pitied her and this was a salute . . . to a woman you would hand a rose. (Faulkner)

References:

Faulkner, William. "A Rose for Emily."

www.mysexproblems.com/cst.asp

From Faulkner at Nagano, ed. Robert Jelliffe (Tokyo: Kenkyusha Ltd., 1956), pp. 7071.