A Rose For Emily In The South Analysis

William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” is a surprising short story that begins with the funeral of the main character, Emily Grierson. Faulkner uses an anonymous narrator that is considered to be the voice of “the town” and tells the story out of chronological order. The story basically uses the life of Emily Grierson as a symbol for the changes in the South after the Civil War. Faulkner illustrates the South through the use of a series of symbols, such as Emily’s house, hair, and even Emily’s “rose”.
The characteristics of Miss Emily’s house symbolize her appearance as she becomes decrepit with time and neglect. The house was a beautiful white decorated with gorgeous cupolas, set on what was the best street. Then it became a monstrous monstrosity. Miss Emily changed the same ways as her house did and she too became an eyesore. She had once been a slender figure and later she becomes fat and motionless. During Miss Emily’s death she had been referred to as a fallen monument, which could mean she was once something beautiful and
Well this is the most confusing ending that includes Emily murdering her sweetheart. This is when all the smells developed and the townspeople put lime in her basement. This is symbolic because lime is usually put in the ground before the coffin of the deceased is placed in the ground. The “rose for Emily” was the room where she neatly placed the body of Homer Barron. The room was described as having “rose-shaded lights” and the curtains giving off a “faded rose color”. Knowing from having a girlfriend, many women like to dry out their roses in order to keep them forever, maybe in Emily’s distorted mind she wanted to keep Homer forever. She kept good care of him, which is exemplified by her dressing Homer in nightclothes and laying him on the bed. There was even an iron gray hair found on the indented pillow next to him signifying Emily has been lying next to