The Old South In William Faulkner's A Rose For Emily

In William Faulkner's " A Rose for Emily", Faulkner tells a story of a woman's life and death and the conflict between two eras; the Old South and the New South. Faulkner personifies the Old South as Miss Emily Grierson, the last southern bell. The young men and women of Jefferson represent the New South. Throughout the story, Faulkner uses an altered timeline to convey the struggle of the Old South versus the New South, and communicate the Old South's refusal to let go of the past and move forward into a new era.

The story is set in the post-Civil War reconstruction era where two generations are colliding on letting go of the past and trying to move forward. Emily is shown as an embodiment of the Old South. The younger townsfolk do not seem

The Old South is very stubborn and set in its ways, as is Miss Emily. Emily is so attached to her southern ways and does not want to accept any change that she even keeps her dead lover in her home for years. She denies her father's death and tries to hold on to his dead body by insisting nothing is wrong. " The day after his death all the ladies prepared to call at the house and offer condolence and aid, as is our custom. Miss Emily met them at the door, dressed as usual and with no trace of grief on her face. She told them her father was not dead. She did that for three days, with the ministers calling on her, and the doctors trying to persuade her to let them dispose of the body." (247) This stubborn act is not only disturbing but displays the true madness of not only Emily but the tradition of the Old South as

Two eras desperately trying to rebuild a broken society yet clashing in the process. The story ends with the death of Miss Emily Grierson and the horrifying truth being discovered; perhaps like the end of the Old