A Rose For Emily Literary Analysis

In the story “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner, both the main character, Miss Emily Grierson and her house are characterized as “fallen monuments” I think because they have fallen from a high state of living, from her father, where everything was perfect but now with his death and absence, it has gone with him. Miss Emily now keeps to herself in the house. No one takes care of either her or the house, except for the servant. I found that a monument is a statue, structure or building or historical importance. In this case, Miss Emily is one because she somehow represents the past by not letting go of it, like when she refuses to pay her taxes, thinking, like in the past, that she is not required to because of her father’s standing in society. As a

She was from a previous generation, believing that the past still existed, still with her. The house has been standing for so many years but, like Miss Emily, with age is decaying or not as it used to be. They both are forcibly trying to stay the same in a new world and generation that is changing. She stays in the house constantly, like she’s trying to hold on to the past and does not want to be part of the future going on outside the house. A monument stands out from other surrounding buildings, and like the house, it may be out of place. The town wondered what she ever did inside. They were afraid of meeting or visiting her because they did not really know her and were not sure how she could be approached. Or they just did not care, because like an old monument, is decayed and does not really have much importance as before. The house was like a monument for people to remember the Old South. I think that its relation to it would be that, for a while, they, the people from back then, also did not want to let go of the past. They did not believe in the new laws and held on to the old