Emily's Unusual Life in A Rose For Emily Essay

A Rose for Emily is a short story written by William Faulkner, one of the twentieth centuries greatest writer. This heart throbbing story is a tale about an old woman named Emily living in the small town of Jefferson. Set in the time period of the early nineteenth hundreds, The story, told in five sections, begins in section one by an unknown narrator telling how the town of Jefferson learns of Emilys unexpected death. The narrator of this story is viewed as a general representation of the overall view of the town people of Jefferson. Throughout each section of the story, we learn of the heart throbbing life and times of Emily, as well as her relationship with the town, her father, and her lover. At the end of the story it is shocking how we find out about the disturbing truth that Emily Grierson was hiding. Overall, A Rose For Emily illustrates the theme of decay in the town, the house, and in Miss Emily herself. Symbolism in A Rose for Emily is presented through the important themes of tradition versus change, the power of death, and the symbol of watching.

The theme of tradition versus change becomes very apparent throughout the story A Rose for Emily. Through the mysterious figure of Emily Grierson, William Faulkner conveys the struggle that comes from trying to maintain tradition in the face of widespread, wide ranging change. Jefferson is at a crossroads, embracing a modern, more commercial future while still faced on the edge of the past, from the disappearing glory of the Grierson home to the town cemetery where anonymous Civil War soldiers have been laid to rest. Emily herself is a tradition, staying the same over the years despite many changes in her community. In my opinion, she is in

many ways a mixed blessing. As a living representative to the past, she represents the traditions that people wish to respect and honor. Although people chose to respect her lifestyle, she is also a burden and entirely cut off from the outside world, something that the others living in Jefferson cannot understand. Refusing to have metallic numbers placed on the side of her house when the town receives the new mail service, she is out of touch with the reality that constantly threatens to break through her sensitiveness and paranoia of changes. Garages and cotton gins have replaced the grand antebellum homes to show some of the new changes in their town. The aldermen try to break with the unofficial agreement about taxes once forged between Colonel Sartoris and Emily. This new and younger generation of leaders brings in Homers company to pave the sidewalks. Although Jefferson still highly regards traditional methods of honor and reputation, the narrator is critical of the old men in their Confederate uniforms who gather for Emilys funeral. Emilys macabre bridal chamber is an extreme attempt to stop time and prevent change, although doing so comes at the expense of human life.

The power of death is also a very symbolic theme in this story. Death takes over A Rose for Emily from the narrators mention of Emilys death at the beginning of the story through the description of Emilys death-haunted life to the struggle of tradition in the face of modern changes. In every case, death comes to every person over every attempt to master and avoid it. Emily, an important figure in the community, gives in to death slowly but unwillingly. The unknown narrator compares her to a drowned woman, a bloated and pale figure left too long in the water. This smilie helps compare here to someone who is old and lifeless. In the same description, he refers to her small, spare skeleton making it look like she is practically dead on her feet. Emily stands as a toke of the old south town of Jefferson. She is viewed as a grand lady whose respectability and charm rapidly decline through the years, much like the outdated emotions the Griersons represent. In Section III, the he death of the old social order will prevail, despite many townspeoples attempts to stay true to the old ways, to help represent the consequences for not expecting rapid changes to the new modern lifestyle. Emily attempts to exert power over death by denying the fact of death itself. She feels as if she believes death will never happen, then death will not come to her. We learn of her bizarre relationship with the dead bodies of the men she has love that is revealed first when her father dies. This unusual relationship ties to the fact that Emily is unable to admit that he has died. By simply ignoring the fact that he is dead and pretending it never happened, Emily clings to the father figure whose constant denial and need to control became the only form of love she ever knew. Next to find out that Homer dies, we learn that when he dies, Emily refuses to acknowledge it once again. Although this time, she herself was responsible for bringing about the death. In killing Homer, she was able to keep him near her. However, Homers lifelessness kept him permanently distant from her and that is not what she initially wanted.. Emily and Homers misproportioned marriage reveals Emilys disturbing attempt to fight life and death. However, death ultimately triumphs and never ceases to fail.

Watching over is a very apparent them in A Rose for Emily that describes the towns viewpoint on viewing Emily Griersons life. Emily is the subject of the intense, controlling gaze of the narrator and residents of Jefferson. In lieu of an actual connection to Emily, the townspeople create subjective and often distorted interpretations of the woman they know little about. They attend her funeral under the guise of respect and honor, but they really want to satisfy their intense curiosity about the towns most popular lady. One of the ironic cases of the story is that for all the gossip and questioning, no one guesses the real drawn out extent of Emilys true nature. For most of the story, Emily is seen only from a distance, by people who watch her through the windows or who quickly glimpse her in her doorway. The narrator refers to her as an object of an idol of the past of Jefferson. This pattern changes briefly during her courtship with Homer Barron, when she leaves her house and is frequently out in the world. However, others spy on her just as avidly, and she is still demoted to the role of object, a distant figure who takes on character according to the souls of those who watch her. In this sense, the act of watching in A Rose for Emily is powerful because it replaces an actual human presence with a fictional narrative that changes depending on who is doing the watching. No one knows the Emily that exists beyond what they can see, and her true self is visible to them only after she dies and her secrets are revealed.

In conclusion, A Rose for Emily, written by William Faulkner, is a short story about the unusual life of Emily Grierson. William Faulkner, one of the twentieth century used many different literary devices to bring out significance and symbolism throughout the story.This short story begins by breaking the news of her unexpected death and ends by revealing the secrets leading up to her death. Throughout this reading, we learn of the heart throbbing life and times of Emily, as well as her relationship with the town, her father, and her lover. The use of symbolism in this story allows the reader to understand the important themes throughout the narration. Symbolism in A Rose for Emily is presented through the important themes of tradition versus change, the power of death, and the symbol of watching.