ipl-logo

A Rose For Emily Essay

773 Words4 Pages

A Rose For Emily”: The Eternal Honeymoon
When analyzing the short story “A Rose for Emily”, it is crucial to understand the author’s intentions behind the allegorical elements utilized. In Gothic literature, symbolism is used to share details that are essential to the plot, while trying to accomplish a particular atmosphere in the story. William Faulkner uses dark symbols to portray emotions and reveal secrets, while establishing a prominent gloomy mood.
Faulkner utilizes the house as a recurring informative element within the story. The house establishes setting and gives the reader important context to details in the story. The story is occurring after the Civil War. During this time, political, economic and social systems began to evolve. …show more content…

The title, “A Rose for Emily” is referencing the relationship that Emily desired, but was consistently denied. Decades of loneliness and denial finally sent her over the edge, and by force, Emily had received a rose for the first time in her life. Homer Barron is the name of the man Emily killed. He is described as a dark skinned, eccentric man, from the north, who had claimed to be homosexual. Homer and Emily were contradictory to each other in every way. This detail suggests the existence of urgency in Emily’s attempt to break the pattern, especially due to her father’s recent demise. Whether or not Emily truly loved Homer is unclear, however she didn't want to lose him. Barron didn't intend on marrying her. Desperate to cling to his presence, Emily poisons Homer and keeps his body in her bed. When Emily passes away, the inhabitants of the town are finally let into the house. The astonishing reveal of Emily’s room delivers an image, revealing the intensity of evil within Emily’s secret. The presence of gray hair on the pillow implies Emily had been resting inches from the body. “Then we noticed that in the second pillow was the indentation of a head. One of us lifted something from it, and leaning forward, that faint and invisible dust dry and acrid in the nostrils, we saw a long strand of iron-gray hair” (151). This detail was included to reveal the emotional attachment Emily has to Homer, unphased by his

Show More
Related

Similarities Between Louis Mallard And Emily Grierson

1145 Words | 5 Pages

Homer’s body was kept in that upstairs room for over fifty years. After losing her father, Emily did not want to lose the only other male figured she had in her life. Emily thought the only way of keeping him with her for the rest of her life was by death and keeping his

Read More

Thesis For A Rose For Emily

594 Words | 3 Pages

Emily was isolated by her father, isolated her from men and let Homer Barron isolated her permanently. Emily was sick for a long time, her hair was cut short and looks like a girl, she had grown fat also and her hair was turning grey. Emily's love story is not a traditional romance because their relationship is shrouded in mystery. And they met but are not destined to be together. The relationship ends abruptly, instead of spending more time with Emily, but what Emily perceives as romantic interest is merely platonic from his

Read More

Comparing Insanity And Madness In A Rose For Emily And The Yellow Wallpaper

1157 Words | 5 Pages

In “A Rose for Emily” the theme of the story is death over powering a woman despite her refusal to accept it and is the constant struggle between the past and the present. Emily cannot let go of the past, especially the attitudes and customs of her father's generation. Emily is sleeping with Homer's dead body symbolizes Emily's inability to let go of the past and embrace the new ideas of the next

Read More

Emily Grierson Compare The Old South To The New South

919 Words | 4 Pages

Emily knows how the people in the town stare and talk about her dating Homer and she does not care. Emily likes to hold on to the past and considering how she was brought up she cannot let Homer go when he states that their relationship is coming to an end. She decides she will hold on to him anyway she can. She inds up killing Homer and keeps him in the house with her. People complain of the smell but the townspeople will not confront her.

Read More

Grotesque Imagery In A Rose For Emily

1922 Words | 8 Pages

A Rose for Emily is one of Faulkner's most anthologized stories which reveal grotesque imagery and first-individual plural portrayal to investigate a culture not able to adapt to its own death and rot. A Rose for Emily starts with the declaration of the death of Miss Emily Grierson, an estranged spinster living in the South in the late nineteenth or early twentieth century. The narrator, who talks in the "we" voice and seems to represent the populace of the town, describes the story of Emily's life as a lonely and impoverished woman left destitute by her father, who headed out suitors from his overprotected daughter. Emily was left when her father kicked the bucket with an extensive, flimsy house, into which the townspeople have never been welcomed, and there is a very nearly lurid enthusiasm among them when they are at long last ready to go into the house upon Emily's death.

Read More

Isolation In 'A Rose For Emily And The Tell-Tale Heart'

642 Words | 3 Pages

Generally, “A Rose for Emily” set during a time period when Miss Emily was alone; ultimately, hiding her true motive. A flashback in the story reveals that Miss Emily’s father had passed away and she had no family remaining other than cousins who reside in Alabama. Thus, Emily lived all by herself in this huge home creating separation from her peers. Then, along came Homer, whom she fell in love with; however, Homer did not feel the same as she did. Miss Emily was afraid of being alone again, especially after her father’s death and she felt like she had to keep Homer somehow.

Read More

Suspense In William Faulkner's A Rose For Emily

806 Words | 4 Pages

“We remembered all the young men her father had driven away” (453). Miss Emily’s father drove away young men interested in her, not allowing her to have a love life and therefore a life outside of him. This controlling treatment of Miss Emily by Mr. Grierson coincides with Emily’s fight to control her love life with Homer. “Because Homer himself had remarked - he liked men, and it was known that he drank with the younger men in the Elks’ Club - that he was not a marrying man” (454). If it weren’t for the fact that Miss Emily murdered Homer, he would have left her, therefore she used the murder as a way to keep him close to

Read More

Emily Grierson's Mental Illness

1441 Words | 6 Pages

And those people can probably relate to Emily Grierson. She didn’t just kill her husband, she preserved him. Homer has been just the right guy at just the right time. In a Rose for Emily, Emily’s mental illness makes her an outsider and forces her to deviate from the dominant culture in her town. Her deviation affects all aspects of the short story including her characterization, the mood and tone of the story, as well as the overall thematic elements of the work.

Read More

Love And In Death In William Faulkner's A Rose For Emily

960 Words | 4 Pages

In Love and In Death William Faulkner’s short story “A Rose for Emily”, centers around a reclusive woman named Emily Grierson who is the protagonist of this story. Emily lives in Jefferson, Mississippi with her strict and over protective father who turns away any male suitor who shows any interest in her as he believes them to be unfit for his daughter. Emily and her father are regarded as upper-class southerners who live in a very nice home. The townspeople see Emily as a mysterious individual, often pitting her.

Read More

Importance Of Setting In William Faulkner's A Rose For Emily

647 Words | 3 Pages

The short story, ‘A Rose for Emily’ contains such a mysterious storyline that really leaves you with a cliffhanger. You aren’t sure what happens and it’s up to the reader to decide. Emily is uncanny character leaving giving off vibes that spook. It’s a well-known older novel written in 1930 by William Faulkner and will no doubt leave you skeptical at the end.

Read More

Compare And Contrast Miss Brill And Emily Grieron

1015 Words | 5 Pages

When Emily’s father dies and shortly after Homer’s disappearance follows, we see a depressed and a lonely Emily who never leaves the

Read More

A Rose For Emily: The Value Of Uncomfortable Art

1064 Words | 5 Pages

“A Rose for Emily”. Throughout the story Emily could be viewed as a pitied character until the end of the story when it is revealed what is in her house. There is so much that builds up the town’s sympathy for Emily like her mental instability or the loss of her father, but then the odd behavior begins with the denial of her father’s death, the poison, and the sudden disappearance of Homer (Faulkner). This modifies the normal expectations of the outcome of this story. This creates an uncomfortable environment for the storyline but reveals the truth.

Read More

William Faulkner's A Rose For Emily

975 Words | 4 Pages

Although Emily allowed herself to become involved with a man named Homer Barron. When Homer comes back and enters Emily’s home, he is never to be seen again. Soon after, his corpse is found rotting in Emily's bed with a single gray strand of hair. Emily could not escape the past since her family had raised her to never be with a man, she couldn't handle being with

Read More

A Rose For Emily Southern Gothic Analysis

691 Words | 3 Pages

When her father died we can see that she is controlling of him and would not release the body for burial. After she loses her father, it is as if she loses her sense of reality. It is as if maybe the old white house is beginning to represent the attitude and ways of Emily. The house is old, dark, and very dusty just as the townspeople think Emily is. Homer Barron is a construction worker from New York.

Read More

Examples Of Conflict In A Rose For Emily

534 Words | 3 Pages

A Rose for Emily has two types of conflict. Person Vs. Self, Emily tends deal with a lot of problems by herself. Her father never let her date or marry anyone because he thought they weren’t good enough for her. After her father died she tried to keep the body, she didn’t really have anyone in her life except her father.

Read More

More about A Rose For Emily Essay

Related Topics

Open Document