Symbolism in A Rose for Emily Women in the 1800's only had a few priorities in life. Those were to one, be a good daughter. Two, to marry and become a wife, usually before the age of 22 or 23, and finally, to become a mother. When someone did not follow these societal norms of the time, they were seen as being different, or out of the ordinary. In the short story, A Rose for Emily, William Faulkner portrays change and decay by making symbols out of Emily’s house, Miss Emily Grierson herself, and Emily’s hair. The house in which Emily lives in symbolizes how much has changed in Emily’s surroundings, whereas she is in a way stagnant and stuck in her own time and ways. Faulkner describes the house as being “a big, squarish …show more content…
This description shows the reader that over the time since it had been built in the 1870’s, this once pristine, immaculate house has become very rundown from lack of care over the years. The fact that it is a big house symbolizes that at some point in time it may not have been as empty as it is throughout this story. Before now, there may have been countless gatherings and friendly people get together in this house. When the story says that it “had once been white” (Faulkner 451) represents the idea that it really has been a very long time since this house was given some good tender loving care. The story then goes on to say, “But garages and cotton gins had encroached and obliterated even the august names of that neighborhood; only Miss Emily’s house was left, lifting its stubborn and coquettish decay above the cotton wagons and gasoline pumps- an eyesore among eyesores” (Faulkner 451). This shows the reader in vivid detail the type of area that surrounds the house in which Emily lives. It appears to be in an area that may have fallen behind the rest