A Rose for Emily

Dijona Clemons
February 3, 2013
Ceron Bryant
ENC 1102
A Rose for Emily
“He who rejects change is the architect of decay; the only human institution which rejects progress is the cemetery.” In William Faulkner’s short story “A Rose for Emily”, the symbolism of a crumbling old mansion, motifs of decay, putrefaction and grotesquerie are all sensational elements used to highlight an individual’s struggle against an oppressive society that is undergoing rapid change.
Faulkner’s display of the theme “Tradition versus Change” is ultimately displayed through the character Emily. Emily stays confidently planted in an idiosyncratic realm of time, where life moves on with her in it. However, she stays committed to living her life as if “life” were still in the past. As a citizen of a town in the midst of an industrial revolution, Emily holds on to all the traditions of the “Old South”. When the town upgrades to modern mail service, Emily refuses to have metallic numbers placed on the side of her house. Here we see a woman out of touch with reality. “Miss Emily alone refused to let them fasten the metal numbers above her door and attach a mailbox to it. She would not listen to them” (Faulkner). Through this quote one can see the struggle that Miss Emily had to maintain her traditions and her attempts to force the town to remain at a standstill.
In addition to her rejection to the modern mail service, Emily claimed to be a superior exception to town taxes, regulations and rules. One should not forget that at one point in time Emily’s class was that of the affluent, pristine, and privileged; with her house still proof of such life style. But once again as time began changing and the new mayors of the time period took over they sent her a letter requesting her taxes only receiving a discrepancy in return.
“On the first of the year they mailed her a tax notice. February came, and there was no reply. They wrote her a formal letter, asking her to call at the sheriff 's office at her convenience. A week later the mayor wrote her himself……… The tax notice was also enclosed, without comment….. “See Colonel Sartoris.” (Colonel Sartoris had been dead almost ten years.) “I have no taxes in Jefferson. Tobe!” The Negro appeared. “Show these gentlemen out.” (Faulkner)
Through this quote, one can see how Faulkner introduces the idea of an individual’s struggle to adapt to society’s disappearing realm of aristocracy. Time was rapidly changing and Emily’s monumental status was coming to an end. She was now living in a neighborhood of becoming equality.
Emily’s house can also be seen as a suggestion of the only remaining symbol of a dying world of Southern aristocracy. The narrator describes the large house and how it sat at the end of the street in contrast to the others. “…The cupolas, spires, and scrolled balconies are the hallmarks of a decadent style of architecture that became popular in the 1870s. The house is in some ways an extension of Emily: it bares its “stubborn and coquettish decay” to the town’s residents. It is a testament to the endurance and preservation of tradition but now seems out of place among the cotton wagons, gasoline pumps, and other industrial trappings that surround it—just as the South’s old values are out of place in a changing society.” (Sparknotes)
To add to this, Emily’s house may also be seen as a symbol representing alienation, mental illness, and death. It is a shrine to the living past, and the sealed upstairs bedroom is her macabre trophy room where she preserves herself, her father, and later on towards the end of the story, the man she would not allow to leave her. The house can be seen as a parallel symbol of Emily’s persona; alienated and ill due to unfortunate lack of adaptation to its surroundings. There is no doubt that Emily was old, with a weakened mind and sick soul. Not only does Emily attempt to avoid the rapid change occurring within her town, she could not seem to withstand a change of any kind. When death lurked about Emily’s parameters she also tried to disregard its reality. Choosing not to accept the fate of her father’s death, Emily infatuates that her father is not dead to the nosy town’s people as they ask for his body. Keeping his body and treating the corpse as if he were still alive. “Miss Emily met them at the door, dressed` as usual and with no trace of grief on her face. She told them that her father was not dead” (Faulkner).
Furthermore, unable to accept Homers sexuality and opinions on marriage, Miss Emily disregarded the homicide in which she was responsible for and treated his body too as if it were still alive. “Among them lay a collar and tie, as if they had just been removed, which, lifted, left upon the surface a pale crescent in the dust. Upon a chair hung the suit, carefully folded; beneath it the two mute shoes and the discarded socks. The man himself lay in the bed.” (Faulkner) Emily and Homer’s ridiculous marriage reveals Emily’s disturbing attempt to fuse life and death. However, death ultimately triumphs.
In Essence, Emily has had death haunt her throughout her entire life, and within the story it is almost as if “death” and “change” coincide with each other. The way in which Emily gives in to death slowly and unwillingly is just as unique as how she is slowly giving in to the change within the community. Faulkner creates a gothic and decaying motif as he fluctuates between these two themes. “It is very true that for some people change is very oppressive, it can be a lot to accept, and if not dealt with properly sickening to one’s soul.”

Works Cited
Faulkner, William. “A Rose for Emily” Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. Ed. X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. 10th ed. New York: Longman, 2007.
SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on A Rose for Emily.” SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. 2007. Web. 17 Jan. 2013.

Cited: Faulkner, William. “A Rose for Emily” Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. Ed. X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. 10th ed. New York: Longman, 2007. SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on A Rose for Emily.” SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. 2007. Web. 17 Jan. 2013.