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A Rose For Emily Literary Analysis Essay

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“A Rose for Emily” Literary Analysis In the short story “A Rose for Emily” written by William Faulkner, the main character, Emily Grierson, lost her father at a young age. She was so depressed, she rarely ever went out and kept her father’s body in the house for three whole days. The townspeople forced her to get rid of the body, due to the horrific stench. Emily was once a wealthy, beautiful lady, although most men were feared by her, all except Homer Barron. Ever since her father died, she has gone downhill since. Miss Emily was very much an outsider ever since her father died. She was practically the talk of the town for years. In the short story, it talks about how the townspeople always talked about her and worried about her well being. …show more content…

When her father died, she hardly ever went out. Miss Emily kept the body in the house, just lying there rotting for three days. She was convinced that he was not dead. All the townspeople complained of the smell, but never did anything about it right away. “So the next night, after midnight, four men crossed Miss Emily’s lawn and slunk about the house like burglars, sniffing along the base of the brickwork and at the callar openings while one of them performed a regular sowing motion with his hand out of a sack slung from his shoulder. They broke open the cellar door and sprinkled lime there, and in all the outbuildings” (Faulkner 806). The men were afraid to confront her themselves, so they snuck around the house and took care of the smell themselves. The townspeople and mayor forced her to bury the body and to let go. This shows how she was an outsider and nobody came around her because they were afraid. If she did have visitors, she would shut them out and rarely let anyone in the house. Miss Emily didn’t let Homer Barron ever leave her. She had bought him a nightgown, jewelry, and wedding clothes. Miss Emily figured he was going to leave her and she didn’t want that to happen. OnceMiss Emily realized this, she took charge. “I want some poison” “Yes, Miss Emily. What kind? For rats and such?” said the druggist. “I want the best you have. I don’t care what kind” “They’ll kill anything up to elephants. But …show more content…

Once Miss Emily was put six feet under, “The negro, servant, met the first of the ladies at the front door and let them in, with their hushed, sibilant voices and their quick, curious glances, and then he disappeared. He walked right through the house and out the back door and was not seen again” (Faulkner 811). The negro servant practically ran out of the house once Miss Emily died. This shows that Miss Emily’s house was like a jail. Once you’re in, you cannot get out. The ladies went to a room above the stairs that was has not been seen in 40 years. The people found a man's body, at least what was left of it, in the bed he layed in. The dead man was wearing a nightgown, and the pillow that laid beside him had a long strand of iron-gray hair and an indentation of a head. It’s as if Miss Emily killed Homer Barron with the rat poison and then laid beside his dead corpse all those years just so he wouldn’t leave her. You can’t leave if you’re already dead, right? I believe this shows how strong of a strange love she had for Homer. The Grierson’s house was a

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