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Mohammad Madmouj

Professor Morean

English 1101

10/21/2016

Emilys rose

"A Rose For Emily" is a very sad and kinda horrific story written by William Faulkner in

1931.This story made me think about very dark sadness and sorrows. Emily seems very

obsessive and psychotic. Emily was always gossiped about by the townspeople and being

commiserated or annoyed for her father's death. Homer is a guy that is her first love and her last.

There are many things to analyze in a Rose for Emily like the symbols, Emily being a

necrophiliac, and Emily's mental state.

Emily didnt give her dad up for three days when he died which to me seemed odd.

When Homer Barron swoops into the story he seemed very appealing because he was the focus

point of diligence and kindness. Homer depicts a homosexual because he drinks with youthful

men at the Elks club or forever single because he does say he is not a marrying man. When

Homer enters Emily's life he really is her first lover sadly though since she couldnt marry him.

After Emily buys the poison she really starts to act in weird behaviors which advocate me to

believe she is a necrophiliac. Necrophilia usually defined as intimate interest with dead bodies.

Now in a deeper impression, it could be expressed as a strong inclination to control a different

person, in this case, Homer. Emily takes Homer and is stuck in her plan to be eternally by her

side. Taking Homer's life she achieved her desire to have absolute power over him. To prove

that Emily is a necrophilic, She told them that her father was not dead. She did that for three

days (27). Emilys dad controlled her, and after his death, she controlled him when he died,
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which is why she kept him for 3 days. When Emily died there was a funeral with some

townspeople and two cousins. After that time they discovered Homer's body in a room that was

sealed upstairs and was stretched on the bed. He was decayed for a progressively decayed with

things in the room that were for a wedding and a mans suit.The witnesses found a long gray hair

that belonged to Emily.

In regards to Emilys mental state, William Faulkner shows shes not mentally well. I

have no taxes in Jefferson But we have. We are the citys authority. Didnt you get a notice

from the sheriff, signed by him? ( 8-9). The author is conveying that Emily is delusional

because she believed she didnt have taxes, while evidence from local authority contradicts her

claim by saying the sheriff gave her a notice about said taxes. Another point to prove the low

point of Emilys well, mental-being, is when, She told them that her father was not dead. She

did that for three days (27). This quote another prime example that she can not depict the past

from present. I can connect to Emily here because I had a friend that was deeply depressed and

he was in and out of mental hospitals. Emily viewed everything as temporary and death being the

only thing permanent and my friend also thought the same thing.

The symbolism in a rose for emily can really delve into a deeper meaning. There can be

so many symbols in just a single story. Symbols can be hard to find when reading it just once, it

could be in the beginning, climax, or end. Emily can be a symbol just by herself representing the

old south washing away from the world. Another symbol is the gray strand of hair left next to the

corpse of Homer. This is a sign that shows how Emily didnt give up on how she wanted to live

and is a sign of lost love. A rose is a symbol for love, Emilys only love was Homer. The mass of

the town brought flowers at Emilys funeral and a sign of her lost love.What was left of him,

rotted beneath what was left of the nightshirt, had become inextricable from the bed in which he
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lay; and upon him and upon the pillow beside him lay that even coating of the patient and biding

dust. (59).

In A Rose for Emily many symbols are used throughout the story to represent Emilys

mental state and her being necrophilia. Reflecting on a rose for Emily I can really envision on

how sad Emilys life has been and how mislead she was to do the actions shes performed. One

of the ways Faulkner hinted towards her mental state was how much in denial she was. She

refused to accept her dads death, and even deluded herself thinking that she doesnt have taxes,

which is proven to be a false claim. Emily is also evidently a necrophiliac because she refused to

let her husbands body rest in peace, and instead kept his decaying corpse in a sealed room

upstairs. These pieces of evidence through the story is what led me to conclude that Emily is not

mentally well and a necrophiliac.