A Rose For Emily Essay

Horrific! Gross! Disturbing! These are all words to describe the short story, “A Rose For Emily”. “A Rose For Emily” is a Southern Gothic short story written by William Faulkner. Within his short story, Faulkner explored the ideas of typical southern gothic stories. A deranged and oppressed protagonist, a dark and depressing mood, and an ending that usually takes a left turn are all standard ideas within Southern Gothic literature. Faulkner’s main character, Miss Emily, was a delusional, oppressed woman whose strife in life impacted her to make irrational decisions. Faulkner uses dialogue from the townspeople and the narrator to describe Emily’s physical state. In contrast, he uses Emily’s actions and the reader's inferences to help discern her mental state. From a young age, Emily was faced with trauma and strife. Her father passed away, and her sweetheart abandoned her. Within the text, Faulkner states,

She was in denial and had an obvious attachment to her father. When seen right after her father’s death, she had no guilt on her face, no remorse. Faulkner uses this to show how mentally deranged and schizophrenic-like Miss Emily is. She is imagining that her father is still alive and is keeping his corpse when he is obviously passed. His body was only confiscated when law enforcement had to get involved and take it by force. This unhealthy attachment and depression led to the death of Homer Barron later in the story. Homer Barron was Miss Emily’s new friend. He added a source of light and happiness to her dark life. Homer made Miss Emily very happy ,However; Miss Emily lived in fear of Homer leaving. This fear and attachment led the mentally ill Miss Emily to do something truly horrific. In order to keep Homer with her forever, she poisoned him and kept his body rotting within her bedroom. Now Miss Emily could have Homer’s company whenever she wanted without the fear of him