Preview

A Rose For Emily Literary Analysis

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
811 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
A Rose For Emily Literary Analysis
The short story “A rose for Emily” published in 1930 by William Faulkner focuses on the life of Emily Grierson, a woman who is from a rich family and, now has to deal with her loneliness after her father’s death. Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” is a complex and dark story that keeps readers guessing and intrigued by Faulkner’s abundant use of literally elements. Faulkner’s use of symbolism in the story is used to enhance the plot and create meaning. The point of view by the use of the unnamed narrator in “A Rose for Emily” makes readers question the identity of the speaker. "A Rose for Emily" recalls the terms of Southern gothic literature that sets the tone of the story as gloomy and grotesque.
In the story “A Rose for Emily" Faulkner uses unconventional symbols. Symbols give readers a greater understanding of the setting and help define Miss Emily's
…show more content…
“A Rose for Emily” is a Southern Gothic story since the themes of murder and death are present. Throughout the story, the Faulkner describes Emily as lonely. “She looked bloated, like a body long submerged in motionless water, and of that pallid hue. Her eyes, lost in the fatty ridges of her face, looked like two small pieces of coal pressed into a lump of dough.”(Faulkner). When Emily goes into the store and buys poison this leads the readers to believe that something bad is going to happen. The ending of the story also makes it Gothic. Emily secret is revealed that she has had a dead corpse in her house for several years. Emily also slept with the corpse a long grey hair was found next to Homers decaying body. The Gothic elements help give this story a gloomy and creepy tone.
“A Rose for Emily” is a story with many different literally devices. Faulkner’s story is very complex and strange. The use of symbolism, point of view and Southern Gothic literature helps the

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    7. The various gothic elements that Faulkner uses in “A Rose for Emily” forward the plot by having the reader constantly question what’s going to occur next and by establishing a mysterious and eerie…

    • 400 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In “A Rose for Emily,” William Faulkner skillfully depicts the changes of Emily, who becomes a victim of the transitional period from the old pre-war society to the new post-war society. The author depicts the process of how an aristocratic lady becomes a killer. The story revolves around the life of a troubled and stubborn woman named Emily. After the death of her father and the disappearance of her lover, Emily becomes increasingly isolated from the society. She persistently lives in her self-made shell so that she can preserve her past and protect herself from the changes of society. By using peculiar factors, overcast atmosphere, and the contrast of desolate and modern life, Faulkner exposes the isolation of a woman trapped in the past, her desire for a happy life, and the degradation of the South after the Civil War.…

    • 1072 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the story “A Rose for Emily,” Faulkner uses characterization to portray Emily’s mental decline throughout her life. By being kept away from the real world by her father, to being free to venture out after his death to having to keep a murder a secret. Faulkner best characterized Miss Emily as snobby, crazy and secretive.…

    • 357 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “A Rose for Emily” is a mysterious and unusual short story. William Faulkner creates a character, Miss Emily Grierson, who is so significant to the town that she is referred to as a “fallen monument” after her death. Miss Emily is an eccentric character, and although she physically changes, her character nor her personality do. Miss Emily is a static character, with internal conflicts, and has odd relationships with her boyfriend and husband. For instance, Miss Emily kept her late father's body and refused to give him up, showing an inability to let go. She keeps his body because she also does not want to be isolated, even though she avoids interaction by staying in her home. Miss Emily's isolation is external with society and also resonates…

    • 190 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A Rose for Emily, is a tragic story of a young women who was denied the privilege to love and be loved at young age. The author, William Faulkner, was born and raised in Mississippi at the turn of the century. Faulkner is known as one of the 20th century’s best writers. “The man himself never stood taller than five feet, six inches tall, but in the realm of American literature, William Faulkner is a giant” (“William Faulkner”). In the short story A Rose for Emily, Faulkner ties the story together through setting, foreshadowing, symbolism, and most importantly the characters.…

    • 494 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    William Faulkner's A Rose for Emily is about a poor and unfortunate woman, named Emily, who leads a very personal and lonely life. The theme and story revolves around the secret life of Emily Grierson. The story takes place in the South and reflects the attitudes and lifestyle of the old South.…

    • 1002 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Edgar Allan Poe Insanity

    • 1231 Words
    • 5 Pages

    William Faulkner’s A Rose For Emily (1930) intertwines the topics of romance, horror, and gothic. When a corpse is discovered in a locked room, the realization of horror is created. It is further pronounced when readers discover it is Emily who has not only been keeping her deceased lover in the house, but also sleeping next to him every night. However, it also displays the love and affection she had for him was very deep. Furthermore, she kept her wedding dress, along with his suit, folded up in the belief that he should be with her forever. This odd mentality is also shown when Emily refused to bury her father for three days after his passing, also keeping him in the house. While it is very obvious to see the romantic and horror qualities presented throughout the story, what places it into the Gothic is the darkness that is portrayed. The main character’s psychological state makes the story very bleak. The decaying smell of the corpse throughout the house expresses the Gothic by making readers face the deep fears of the answers to their own curiosity. It also follows along Emily’s journey of finding the love she wanted, but could not have. As twentieth century Gothic tropes evolved, the story can easily be compared to some of the original Gothic novels that came out, when women were seen as fragile and powerless. The evolution of women characters in stories was displayed…

    • 1231 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Essay: a Rose for Emily

    • 517 Words
    • 3 Pages

    References: Faulkner, W. (2012). A Rose for Emily. In M. Meyer (Ed.), The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature (9th ed., pp. 84-90). New York: Bedford/ St. Martin’s.…

    • 517 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A Rose for Emily

    • 803 Words
    • 2 Pages

    “A Rose for Emily” is an intriguing novel that engages the attention of all audiences because of the creative writing style of William Faulkner. Faulkner uses a means of foreshadowing, suspense, and flashback to form the plot of “A Rose for Emily” by strategically sequencing the elements together. Enough foreshadowing is provided in order to understand the overall setting and character of Emily, but not so much as to as to give away the surprise ending. Faulkner’s ordering of flashbacks are seemingly scattered about, but at the same time very thought out and well planned. What may seem to some readers as useless detail, is later deemed necessary to make loose ends meet.…

    • 803 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Faulkner is classed with thrilling mysteries where he would bring out the evil in the characters. In, “A Rose for Emily”, Emily stood for twisted human psyche, which leads to bizarre things. The author's style is mysterious like he is trying to hide something all the time, only to take his readers by complete…

    • 596 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    A Rose For Emily", by William Faulkner, is a short story that is widely read and debated because it has many interpretations among readers. "A Rose for Emily," captures reader’s attention because it is a love story and a mystery at the same time. The story is about the dark mystery that surrounds a mysterious old woman named Emily, who grows increasingly strange throughout time. Faulkner paints an incredible picture by setting up the story and inviting the reader with the mystery that surrounds Emily. The audience does not know what the true mystery is until the last paragraphs of the story. Faulkner's ability to keep the audience reading until the last words of the story shows his great skill as a writer. To truly understand what is going on in the story you have to go in depth and really examine the text. Because of the various themes and interpretations found within “A rose for Emily”, when teaching it to a class you have to make sure to highlight as much information as possible to figure the story out.…

    • 1856 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Owner of two Pulitzer Prizes and a Noble Prize in literature, William Faulkner has many great poems, novels, short stories, and screen plays. Having a strong influence of a southern life style growing up in Mississippi, Faulkner portrays much of it through his writings. Having only read “A Rose for Emily” I have only seen very little of his southern influence. But in this short story it engulfs the whole story being set in the time period when slavery was still existent “A Rose for Emily” has be interpreted in so many different ways ever since it was released in 1930. Most focus on the issue of the time of the story and the meaning behind it, deciphering it as many ways as possibly.…

    • 2159 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    William Faulkner’s American gothic tale, A Rose for Emily, is clearly a product of its time and suggests to readers that the transition between past and present is indeed difficult but not impossible. The author utilizes literary devices to connect a practically symbolic relationship to the setting. Indeed, these powerful images encapsulated in the story provide substance to the characters and help to drive the plot. With the strict importance of the narrative that implies a wide range of conclusions, it is essentially the metaphors, symbols and repetitions which give the story meaning.…

    • 834 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In “A Rose for Emily”; William Faulkner details the loneliness and selfishness of peculiar woman, Miss Emily. Miss Emily is unable to grip the idea of death and suffers great deals of denial. After the death of her father, the townspeople expected her to be in a state of grief but alas she is not. Instead she proceeds to say that her father is very well with her, alive. William Faulkner’s idea of grieving is clear in this story because he shows his audience that it is better to accept death than to ignore it through the accounts of Miss Emily’s journey. William Faulkner’s story takes place in the South, during a time period of racial discrimination and major political change. By using reader response criticism, a reader can analyze “A Rose for Emily” through the aspects of the secret held within the story, race found through anthropology, and gender found through anthropology.…

    • 520 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    "A Rose for Emily" is a mysterious short story written by William Faulkner. He uses many techniques to enhance the story's mysterious setting, such as foreshadowing and an out-of-order time sequence to alter the mood and perception of the story.…

    • 530 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays