Essay On A Rose For Emily Grierson Death

Trista Fassio

ENGL 3463

May 7, 2023

“A Rose for Emily”: A Symbol of the Death of the Old South

In “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner, Faulkner uses “Southern grotesque” characterization to depict his character Emily Grierson. In this short story, Emily Grierson represents the death of the Southern aristocracy. The short story begins with the narrator informing us that Emily Grierson has died. This is followed with a present-day description of the street on which she lived. Many wealthy and high class families used to live on this street along with Emily. Now, the members of the families have all passed on and their homes were left to decay (Faulkner Pg 1). All that remained was Miss Emily Grierson (Faulkner Pg 1). The short story

In “A Rose for Emily”, William Faulkner used a gothic town full of hushed secrets, decaying structures, and the tragic Emily Grierson to depict the death of the Pre-Civil War South. The first time we were introduced to Emily she was described as something dead. First, a skeleton, and then, a water-logged corpse (Faulkner Pg 4). She represents the death and slow decay of the Old South. She was once a reputable woman from a proud family, but over the years she lost her status and her respectability. This is also represented in the decay of her home. Her home was filled with fine decorations and lavish furniture but it all became cracked and faded (Faulkner Pg 4). Everything was covered in a layer of dust and the home smelled of rot and mildew (Faulkner Pg 5). Everything about her character represents a slow

Despite the title, the only other place the word rose was used in the story is when describing her bridal suite. There were faded rose colored curtains and lights within the room (Faulkner Pg 7). The faded rose color may have represented the loss of her chance to become a bride. Perhaps, Emily would have selected a rose for her bridal bouquet if she had married Homer Barron. Possibly, Faulkner simply felt empathy for his character. She was a young woman who was robbed of her future by her father. She was left in a big house all alone with no money and no one to care for her. She then descended slowly into madness. She was paralyzed by the past and what could have been, unable to accept the future. Maybe Falkner meant for his rose to be a token to Emily; for the life she lived and the one she never had the chance