Rose For Emily

William Faulkner’s short story “A Rose for Emily” can be a confusing piece of literature at first glance. The writing style, in media res, tells the story of Miss Emily Grierson by flashing back to major events throughout her life. The narrator describes experiences in Miss Emily’s life that have affected her in a negative way and made her into the person she has become. These events occurred throughout the short story dating back to the early twentieth century, when the South’s recovery was still in affect following the Civil War. A constant theme persisting in the story is revealed to be Emily’s struggle to let go of the past. This theme can be seen in two different ways: first, Emily does not let go of her own past, and secondly, that Emily’s

With the new ways of living came many hardships. The beginning of the short story gives a description of the house and Miss Emily; both were in a rough state. The house is described as once being a “big, squarish frame house that had once been white, decorated with cupolas and spires and scrolled balconies in the heavenly lightsome style of the seventies, set on what had been our most select street” (Faulkner 516). In the years following the Civil War the once glamorous southern home had begun to decay and turned into “an eyesore among eyesores”, much like the rest of the southern states (Faulkner 516). As the home was developing an unpolished exterior, so was Miss Emily, who was being described as once being seen as “sort of tragic and serene” to someone who is obese and pale (Faulkner 519).
These descriptions of the home and Miss Emily serve as a representation of the once thriving economy of the South that crumbled after the people lost their livelihoods and most of what they believed in. The theme, the struggle of letting go of the past, appeared in many aspects of “A Rose for Emily”. Miss Emily’s life following her father’s passing and the struggles of the South are examples of this. The events that occurred throughout Miss Emily Grierson’s life reveal that letting go of the past is not always as simple as it may seem to