A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner

Faulkner described the title as "an allegorical title; the meaning was, here was a woman
who has had a tragedy and nothing could be done about it, and I pitied her and this was
a salute ... to a woman you would hand a rose."
Genre: Southern Gothic
It is a subgenre of Gothic fiction in American literature that takes place in the American
South. Common themes in Southern Gothic literature include deeply flawed, disturbing
or eccentric characters who may or may not dabble in hoodoo, ambivalent gender roles,
decayed or derelict settings, grotesque situations, and other sinister events relating to or
stemming from poverty, alienation, crime, or violence.
Elements of a Gothic treatment of the South were apparent in the 19th century, ante- and
post-bellum, in the grotesques of Henry Clay Lewis and the de-idealized visions of Mark
Twain. The genre came together, however, only in the 20th century, when dark
romanticism, Southern humor, and the new literary naturalism merged into a new and
powerful form of social critique.
The term "Southern Gothic" was originally used as pejorative and dismissive. Ellen
Glasgow used the term in this way when she referred to the writings of Erskine Caldwell
and William Faulkner. She included the authors in what she called the "Southern Gothic
School" in 1935, stating that their work was filled with "aimless violence" and "fantastic
nightmares." It was so negatively viewed at first that Eudora Welty said, "They better not
call me that!"
The Southern Gothic style is one that employs the use of macabre, ironic events to
examine the values of the American South. Thus unlike its parent genre, it uses the Gothic
tools not solely for the sake of suspense, but to explore social issues and reveal the cultural
character of the American South – Gothic elements often taking place in a magic realist
context rather than a strictly fantastical one.
Warped rural communities replaced the sinister plantations of an earlier age; and in the
works of leading figures such as William Faulkner, Carson McCullers and Flannery
O'Connor, the representation of the South blossomed into an absurdist critique of
modernity as a whole.
There are many characteristics in Southern Gothic Literature that relate back to its parent
genre of American Gothic and even to European Gothic. However, the setting of these
works are distinctly Southern. Some of these characteristics are exploring madness, decay
and despair, continuing pressures of the past upon the present, particularly with the lost
ideals of a dispossessed Southern aristocracy and continued racial hostilities. Southern
Gothic particularly focuses on the South's history of slavery, a "fixation with the
grotesque, and a tension between realistic and supernatural elements". Similar to the
elements of the Gothic castle, Southern Gothic gives us the decay of the plantation in the
post-Civil War South. Villains who disguise themselves as innocents or victims are often
found in Southern Gothic Literature, giving us a blurred line between victim and villain.
Southern Gothic literature set out to expose the myth of old antebellum South, and its
narrative of an idyllic past hidden by social, familial, and racial denials and suppressions.
Comments, Analysis and Critics:
Emily Grierson becomes the tragic heroin of “A Rose for Emily”. Her status as the town’s
idol or monument of their past, comes with a hefty price. Emily is forced into “a life of
solitude owing to denial of natural sexual affection” (Dilworth 254). The town expects
Emily to behave in a certain manner, to uphold their view of her. When Emily finds love,
the town intervenes because “of course a Grierson would not think seriously of a
Northerner, a day laborer” (Faulkner 32). Both the town and Miss Emily need each other;
the town needs her to remain the same because she represents their past, and Miss Emily
needs the town because they allow her to keep her outdated beliefs. Homer however, is a
threat to the town, he represents the industrialized North, and the town can not allow their
beloved Southern icon to fall for the ways of the North. The South had already lost once
to the North, they could not allow their icon to be lost to the North. Homer is also a threat
to Miss Emily’s fragile self. He had already let it be known around town that he was not
looking for marriage, so there was a possibility he could humiliate Miss Emily. As a
result, Miss Emily becomes the tragic heroin of the old South, tragic because she is never
allowed to become fully humanized. By nature humans like to keep relics or mementos
from their past and Emily becomes the town’s relic. The critic Ray West sees this as a
representation of the “complex relationship between the Southerner and his past and
between the Southerner of the present and the Yankee of the North” (74). The town sees
Emily as “a monument of Southern gentility. As such she is common property of the
town” (West 74). In the town’s view Miss Emily is a symbol or icon, thus her personal
desires are not important. If she was to marry, this would make her human in the eyes of
the town, a fallen idol. Thus the only way Miss Emily can maintain her image with the
town and cherish her love is to kill Homer. “What she does in order to get her own way
is, of course, terrible. But there is an element of the heroic about it too, and the town
evidently recognizes it as such” (Bloom 30).
Miss Emily’s story is told by an unnamed person who tells the events out of order. The
narrator purposely tells the story out of chronological order to allow the reader time to
fully understand all the factors involved, and to develop a sympathetic view towards Miss
Emily and the Old South in general. The narrator becomes a spokesperson who represents
“the town of Jefferson and the South in general” (Dilworth 251). Through the narrator
Faulkner illustrates the attitude and the struggles of the South after the war. As the town
becomes more modernized they seem to focus more on Miss Emily’s life watching her
constantly, even when she stops going out, they still watch their icon. The narrator knows
every aspect of Miss Emily’s life to the point that he or the town had knowledge of the
murder. With this knowledge the fact that the town avoids accusing Miss Emily of murder
and allows her to hide the secret for decades is perhaps their attempt “to preserve the
honor and myth of the Old South” (Dilworth 253). The narrator goes through a
transformation as he tells the story from first idolizing his old ways to finally accepting
that his old way of life is outdated and dead. This is illustrated by his view of Miss Emily
through the years from idol worship until her death when he describes her as “a fallen
monument” (Faulkner 29) meaning in death she finally becomes human. Even though she
has become mortal in death, Miss Emily is still a monument to the Old South’s traditions,
a lasting remembrance.
The narrator never discloses his opinion on Emily, yet he does hint to it when he describes
her face “as you imagine a lighthouse-keeper’s face ought to look” (Faulkner 32). The
critic Harold Bloom quotes Cleanth Brooks when he says the comparison of a lighthouse
keeper’s face is a “very illuminating simile” (30). For a lighthouse keeper’s job is to
“serve others but lives in sheer isolation… his job is to warn others from being wrecked
on the dangerous rocks” (Bloom 30). William Faulkner uses his character Emily Grierson
to represent his Old South antebellum society and their values. “The town’s ambivalence
toward Emily seems to be a reflection of Faulkner’s own ambivalence toward the South”
(Sullivan 88). “A Rose for Emily” becomes a contrast between Old South and New South.
Perhaps Faulkner is warning about the dangers of living just in the past or just in the
present, but that mankind must look at both to survive.

Works Cited
Bloom, Harold. Bloom Major Short Story Writers William Faulkner. Broomall: Chelsea
House, 1999. 20 July 2008. NetLibrary. EBooks. LSCO, Orange, TX. 27 July 2008.
Dilworth, Thomas A. "A Romance to Kill For: Homicidal Complicity in Faulkner_ ‘Rose
for Emily’” Studies in Short Fiction 36 (1999): 251-62. Academic Search Complete.
EBSCO. LSCO, Orange, TX. 19 July 2008.
Faulkner, William. “A Rose for Emily” Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry,
Drama, and Writing. Ed. X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. 10th ed. New York: Longman,
2007. 28-34.
Scherting, Jack. "Emily Grierson_Oedipus Complex: Motif, Motive, and Meaning In
Faulkner, _ ‘Rose For Emily’” Studies in Short Fiction 17 (1980): 397-405. Academic
Search Complete. EBSCO. LSCO, Orange, TX. 15 July 2008.
Sullivan, Ruth. "The Narrator in ‘A Rose for Emily’”_Ed. Laurie L. Harris and Sheila
Fitzgerald. Short Story Criticism 42 (1988): 80-89. Gale Research. LSCO, Orange, TX.
16 July 2008.
Warren, Robert P. The Chelsea House Library of Literary Criticism. Ed. Harold Bloom.
Vol. 3. New York: Chelsea House, 1986. 1310-311.
West, Ray B. "Atmosphere and Theme in Faulkner’s ‘A Rose for Emily’.” William
Faulkner: Four Decades of Criticism. Ed. Linda W. Wagner. East Lansing: Michigan
State UP, 1973 Rpt. In Short Story Criticism. Ed. Laurie Lanzen Harris and Sheila
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