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A Rose For Emily Symbolism

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In William Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily," Emily's father plays a significant role in shaping her life and personality. Emily's father is a controlling and overbearing figure who denies her the opportunity to have a normal life. Emily's father's actions towards her lead to her isolation, obsession with death, and a distorted sense of reality. One literary technique used in the story is the use of symbolism. Emily's house, for example, represents her isolation from society. The house is described as "an eyesore among eyesores" and "stubborn and coquettish" like Emily herself. The house is also described as being "lifting its stubborn and coquettish decay above the cotton wagons and the gasoline pumps," suggesting that Emily's isolation is a source of pride for her. The house becomes a symbol of Emily's repressed emotions and a reminder of the way her father controlled her. …show more content…

The story is told in a non-linear manner, with events from Emily's past and present intermingled. This allows the reader to anticipate the tragic ending of the story. For example, the narrator describes Emily as a "fallen monument," foreshadowing her eventual decline. The story also foreshadows the reveal of Emily's father's corpse in the final scene, with subtle hints throughout the story that something is not quite right in Emily's house. The story also uses point of view to explore Emily's character. The narrator is an unnamed member of the town who is intimately familiar with Emily's history and the events of her life. This allows the reader to see Emily's life from an outsider's perspective and to understand how her father's actions impacted her. The narrator's tone is often sympathetic towards Emily, suggesting that the townspeople understand that her father's influence on her was

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The previous lavishness of the “big, squarish frame house that had once been white, decorated with cupolas and spires and scrolled balconies…set on what had once been [the] most select street” (437) indicates that Emily came from a well-off family that was probably highly respected. The whiteness of the house can be taken to symbolize the innocence of her youth, and that as she got older her macabre habits manifested themselves and polluted that innocence, leaving the house dingy and tainted. The condition of the house when Emily dies is that of a worn down vestige to the past, “an eyesore among eyesores” (437), representing how the towns people saw her. She was a curiosity, a clandestine entity that could only be unraveled after her death when there was no one left to safe guard the dark secrets of her house. The house stands as a monument to a lost time and a testament to tradition that has no place in the modern era, much like Emily

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