Republic of the Philippines

Pangasinan State University

Lingayen Campus

College of Education

1st Semester, SY. 2021-2022

A Rose for Emily

By: William Faulkner

Submitted by:

Elyson Gallaza

Regine Vergara

II-BSED Filipino

Submitted to:

Mrs. Carmela S. Estimada

Instructor
 AUTHOR’S BIBLIOGRAPHY

William Faulkner was born in 1897 and died in

1962. He grew up in a small town in Mississippi,
which is the setting for many of his novels and short
stories. Faulkner's family had lost power and money
during the Civil War. His work is deeply rooted in the
story of the South, tackling issues such as race,
gender, and class, as you'll notice in 'A Rose for
Emily,' which was published in 1931. Also, this story
is considered Gothic. Gothic literature includes
elements that verge on horror and Romanticism. 'A
Rose for Emily,' in other words, is a tad bit creepy.

ABOUT THE STORY

"A Rose for Emily" is a short story by American

author William Faulkner, first published on April 30,
1930, in an issue of The Forum. The story takes place
in Faulkner's fictional city Jefferson, Mississippi, in the
southern county of Yoknapatawpha. It was Faulkner's
first short story published in a national magazine.

Faulkner is quoted as saying it "was an allegorical

title; the meaning was, here was a woman who had
had a tragedy, an irrevocable 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." This sounds right to me. I was thinking along
similar lines, that the narrator was offering a rose to Emily as an acknowledgement of
what she had been through. This seems consistent with the non-judgmental tone used.
The narrator says nothing critical, either about her hanging on to her father's body or after
the dis.
 ELEMENTS OF THE STORY
SETTING:

 The setting, or location, of William Faulkner's A Rose for Emily is a small town in
the South. The story takes place in the town of Jefferson, Mississippi. Like A
Rose for Emily, most of Faulkner's works are set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha
County, of which Jefferson is the county seat.

CHARACTERS:

 Emily Grierson- The object of fascination in the story. A eccentric recluse, Emily
is a mysterious figure who changes from a vibrant and hopeful young girl to a
cloistered and secretive old woman. Devastated and alone after her father’s death,
she is an object of pity for the townspeople.
 Homer Barron- A foreman from the North. Homer is a large man with a dark
complexion, a booming voice, and light-colored eyes. A gruff and demanding boss,
he wins many admirers in Jefferson because of his gregarious nature and good
sense of humor. He develops an interest in Emily and takes her for Sunday drives
in a yellow-wheeled buggy.
 Judge Stevens- A mayor of Jefferson. Eighty years old, Judge Stevens attempts
to delicately handle the complaints about the smell emanating from the Grierson
property. To be respectful of Emily’s pride and former position in the community,
he and the aldermen decide to sprinkle lime on the property in the middle of the
night.
 Mr. Grierson- Emily’s father. Mr. Grierson is a controlling, looming presence even
in death, and the community clearly sees his lasting influence over Emily. He
deliberately thwarts Emily’s attempts to find a husband in order to keep her under
his control.
 Tobe- Emily’s servant. Tobe, his voice supposedly rusty from lack of use, is the
only lifeline that Emily has to the outside world. For years, he dutifully cares for her
and tends to her needs. Eventually the townspeople stop grilling him for
information about Emily. After Emily’s death, he walks out the back door and never
returns.
 Colonel Sartoris- A former mayor of Jefferson. Colonel Sartoris absolves Emily
of any tax burden after the death of her father. His elaborate and benevolent
gesture is not heeded by the succeeding generation of town leaders.
PLOT ANALYSIS:

 Initial Situation

Death and Taxes- As we discuss in "Symbols, Imagery, Allegory," Faulkner might be

playing on the Benjamin Franklin quote, "In this world nothing can be said to be certain,
except death and taxes," in this initial scene. We move from a huge funeral attended
by everybody in town, to this strange little story about taxes.

 Conflict

Taxes aren't the only thing that stinks. The taxes seem tame compared to what comes
next. In Section II, we learn lots of bizarre stuff about Miss Emily:

 When her father died she refused to believe it for four days
 The summer after her father died, she finally gets a boyfriend (she's in her thirties)
 When worried that her boyfriend might leave her, she bought some poison
 Her boyfriend disappeared, and there was a bad smell around her house.

We technically have enough information to figure everything out right here, but we're
thrown off by the issue of the taxes, and by the way in which facts are jumbled together.

 Complication

The Town's Conscience- For this stage it might be helpful to think of this story as the
town's confession. This section is what complicates things for the town's conscience. The
town was horrible to Miss Emily when she started dating Homer Barron. They wanted to
hold her to the southern lady ideals her forbearers had mapped out for her. She was
finally able to break free when her father died, but the town won't let her do it. When they
can't stop her from dating Homer themselves, they send her cousins after her.

 Climax

"For Rats"- Even though this story seems all jumbled up chronologically, the climax
comes roughly in the middle of the story, lending the story a smooth, symmetrical feel.
Emily wanted to hold tight to the dream that she might have a normal life, with love and a
family. When she sees that everybody – the townspeople, the minister, her cousins, and
even Homer himself – is bent on messing up her plans, she has an extreme reaction.
That's why, for us, the climax is encapsulated in the image of the skull and crossbones
on the arsenic package and the warning, "for rats."
  Suspense

Deadly Gossip-As with the climax, Faulkner follows a traditional plot structure, at least
in terms of the story of Emily and Homer. Emily buys the arsenic, and we learn that Homer
Barron was last seen entering the residence of Miss Emily Grierson on the night in
question.

 Denouement

The Next Forty Years-At this point, we've already been given a rough outline of Emily's
life, beginning with her funeral, going back ten years to when the "newer generation"
came to collect the taxes, and then back another thirty some odd years to the death of
Emily's father, the subsequent affair with Homer, and the disappearance of Homer. The
story winds down by filling us in on Miss Emily's goings on in the forty years between
Homer's disappearance and Emily's funeral. Other than the painting lessons, her life
during that time is a mystery.

 Conclusion

The Bed, the Rotting Corpse, and the Hair- The townspeople enter the bedroom that's
been locked for forty years, only to find the rotting corpse of Homer Barron.

CONFLICT:

 Man vs itself conflict- A person versus self-conflict is an internal struggle that a

character faces. The big internal conflict for Emily is her struggle with reality. She
refuses to accept that she is no longer living in the antebellum South, where
backroom deals could be made to evade taxes.

THEME:

 Denial of Death- Death permeates the story, and it could be looked at from many
angles. Miss Emily's denial of death certainly doesn't improve her life in the long
term. The ultimate denial is, of course, the keeping of Homer Barron's corpse for
more than forty years. Death hangs over “A Rose for Emily,” from the narrator’s
mention of Emily’s death at the beginning of the story through the description of
Emily’s death-haunted life to the foundering of tradition in the face of modern
changes. In every case, death prevails over every attempt to master it.
  Isolation- While Miss Emily is a part of the community of Jefferson, she keeps
separate from it. She didn't date when she was younger, because her father didn't
think anyone was good enough. Isolation certainly makes her life worse and
contributes to her abnormal psychology. The times Miss Emily interacts with others
emphasize her isolation.
 The Changing South- Throughout "A Rose for Emily", there's tension between
the aristocratic, antebellum south and the post-Civil War south. The old south has
a code of honor and chivalry that isn't observed by the new generation. Miss
Emily's china-painting is valued by the older generation but dismissed by the
young.

 Tradition versus Change- Faulkner's Emily Grierson is a living monument to

Jefferson County, Virginia. She represents the traditions that people wish to
respect and honor. But she is also a burden and cut off from the outside world,
nursing eccentricities others cannot understand. The novel explores the struggle
of trying to maintain tradition in an era of radical change.

SYMBOLISM:

 Emily's Home- The home that Emily shares with her father and eventually inherits
is symbolic of her inner state. As the story progresses, Emily's house becomes
dirty, smelly and foul. She descends into madness, not only killing her fiancé but
also sleeping with his corpse.
 The Rose- The story never manifests an actual rose for Emily. Instead, the title
represents the idea of love since young lovers often give each other roses to
express their affections.
 Emily's Hair- Emily's hair is symbolic of her sexuality throughout the story. After
her father dies, Emily cuts her hair short, appearing like a young girl though she is
in her 30s. A strand of Emily's gray hair is found next to Homer's corpse in their
would-be marriage bed.
 Lime and Arsenic- Lime and arsenic are some of the story's creepiest symbols.
Lime is a white powder that's good at covering the smell of decomposing bodies.
The arsenic used to kill a stinky rat creates a foul stench, which the townspeople
want to get rid of with lime.

MORAL LESSON:

One moral, or ethical message, of this story is that we don't see the world properly
when we view it through rose colored glasses. This town was able to ignore Emily's
oddities because they viewed her through rose colored glasses.
 SUMMARY OF THE STORY “A ROSE FOR EMILY”

First Section: Synopsis for “A Rose for Emily”

According to an unidentified narrator, Miss Emily Grierson’s burial was attended

by the whole town. However, the men felt compelled to visit her home, while the women
were more interested in it than any other person. Colonel Sartoris, the mayor, cancelled
all future taxes for Miss Emily after her father’s death in 1894. He did this out of kindness
and on the false presumption that it would pay back a father’s debt. A new group of
legislators sends her a tax notice years later. They keep trying to reach her but are
ignored. She replies to the notice. A delegation was sent by the Board of Aldermen to her
home. Tobe, the servant, greets them. The home smells musty and filthy. Miss Emily is
small and clumsy and walks with a cane. They argue. She replies that she doesn’t have
to pay Jefferson taxes. They explain that she is not exempt from taxes. She tells them to
go to Colonel Sartoris, and Tobe will take them there. According to the narrator Sartoris
has been dead for ten years.

Second Section

Thirty years ago, there was another event. It was similar to her father’s death two
years earlier and just after her sweetheart died. Emily is now in seclusion. The Negro
servant is the only activity in the house. Judge Stevens, eighty-years old, is approached
by two neighbors who complain about the foul-smelling odor coming from Judge
Stevens’s home. They call on the government to act. The Board of Aldermen meets. One
younger member suggests that the Board of Aldermen send a message to get things
under control or face the consequences. Judge Stevens hesitates to accuse a lady
smelling horrible. Four men sneak into Emily’s house late at night and do their chores by
sprinkling lime all over the ground. A window lights up, revealing Miss Emily’s lifeless
body as they work. They leave. They quickly forget about the odor. People start to feel
sorry and guilty for Miss Emily. They remember Lady Wyatt, her great-aunt going insane.
She never had any young men who could be considered good enough. After her father’s
death, her house was all that she had. The town folk believe the arrogant Griersons are
now gone. When Miss Emily’s father passes away, she claims that he was still alive for
three more days. He is finally buried and she succumbs to his illness.

Third section

Miss Emily falls ill for a long period of time. When she returns, her hair is cut short.
This summer, a construction company is visiting Jefferson to pave the walkways. It is led
by Homer Barron, a Northerner. He is well-liked. He and Miss Emily ride in a buggy on
Sundays. Rumours abound about the connection. Many believe her estranged family in
Alabama should visit her. Although she is considered a fallen woman, she retains her
dignity. Miss Emily bought poison about a year after their relationship started. Because
the law requires poison consumers to state the purpose of the poison, the druggist asked
her. He asked her if she had any questions. She didn’t answer and just stared at him until
the package was over. He wrote “For rats” on the packaging.

Fourth section

Rumours have it that Miss Emily plans to kill herself. Homer is not the type to marry
her; she feels hopeless. The Baptist preacher is coerced by the ladies to summon her.
He kept the details private and never returned. His wife writes letters to her Alabama
cousins. Miss Emily orders soon some masculine accessories. People in the area assume
that she and Homer have been married. Her cousins are being asked to also leave.
Homer leaves as soon as the paving project has been completed. The cousins are now
back home. Three days later, Homer returns to Miss Emily. Homer is never seen again
and Miss Emily is not seen outside for six months. She has gained weight and her hair is
iron-gray. At forty, she has been teaching china painting for six to seven years. She is
responsible for the grandkids and daughters of the older generation. After they are grown
up, there will not be any substitutes for her students. She retreats within herself. Jefferson
refuses to give an address or a mailbox when she receives postal mail. The years pass.
Her maid turns grey, her tax notifications are not claimed, and she is rarely seen through
a basement window. The top floor of her house appears locked. Miss Emily falls ill and
dies in her basement chamber.
FIFTH SECTION

Visitors can enter the front door by asking the servant. The servant leaves the front
door and is never seen again. The funeral will take place on the second day. They put off
dealing with Miss Emily’s top chamber until after her burial. They broke the door. It has a
tomb-like feel and is very dusty. This room has been converted into a wedding suite.
Homer Barron’s body is lying on the bed. He appeared happy. There’s an indentation on
the cushion beside him. It has long, iron gray hair.

ANALYSIS
The story is divided into five sections. In section I, the narrator recalls the time of
Emily Grierson’s death and how the entire town attended her funeral in her home, which
no stranger had entered for more than ten years. In a once-elegant, upscale
neighborhood, Emily’s house is the last vestige of the grandeur of a lost era. Colonel
Sartoris, the town’s previous mayor, had suspended Emily’s tax responsibilities to the
town after her father’s death, justifying the action by claiming that Mr. Grierson had once
lent the community a significant sum. As new town leaders take over, they make
unsuccessful attempts to get Emily to resume payments. When members of the Board of
Aldermen pay her a visit, in the dusty and antiquated parlor, Emily reasserts the fact that
she is not required to pay taxes in Jefferson and that the officials should talk to Colonel
Sartoris about the matter. However, at that point he has been dead for almost a decade.
She asks her servant, Tobe, to show the men out.

In section II, the narrator describes a time thirty years earlier when Emily resists
another official inquiry on behalf of the town leaders, when the townspeople detect a
powerful odor emanating from her property. Her father has just died, and Emily has been
abandoned by the man whom the townsfolk believed Emily was to marry. As complaints
mount, Judge Stevens, the mayor at the time, decides to have lime sprinkled along the
foundation of the Grierson home in the middle of the night. Within a couple of weeks, the
odor subsides, but the townspeople begin to pity the increasingly reclusive Emily,
remembering how her great aunt had succumbed to insanity. The townspeople have
always believed that the Griersons thought too highly of themselves, with Emily’s father
driving off the many suitors deemed not good enough to marry his daughter. With no offer
of marriage in sight, Emily is still single by the time she turns thirty.

In section III, the narrator describes a long illness that Emily suffers after this
incident. The summer after her father’s death, the town contracts workers to pave the
sidewalks, and a construction company, under the direction of northerner Homer Barron,
is awarded the job. Homer soon becomes a popular figure in town and is seen taking
Emily on buggy rides on Sunday afternoons, which scandalizes the town and increases
the condescension and pity they have for Emily. They feel that she is forgetting her family
pride and becoming involved with a man beneath her station.

In section IV, the narrator describes the fear that some of the townspeople have
that Emily will use the poison to kill herself. Her potential marriage to Homer seems
increasingly unlikely, despite their continued Sunday ritual. The more outraged women of
the town insist that the Baptist minister talk with Emily. After his visit, he never speaks of
what happened and swears that he’ll never go back. So the minister’s wife writes to
Emily’s two cousins in Alabama, who arrive for an extended stay. Because Emily orders
a silver toilet set monogrammed with Homer’s initials, talk of the couple’s marriage
resumes. Homer, absent from town, is believed to be preparing for Emily’s move to the
North or avoiding Emily’s intrusive relatives.

In section V, the narrator describes what happens after Emily dies. Emily’s body is
laid out in the parlor, and the women, town elders, and two cousins attend the service.
After some time has passed, the door to a sealed upstairs room that had not been opened
in forty years is broken down by the townspeople. The room is frozen in time, with the
items for an upcoming wedding and a man’s suit laid out. Homer Barron’s body is
stretched on the bed as well, in an advanced state of decay. The onlookers then notice
the indentation of a head in the pillow beside Homer’s body and a long strand of Emily’s
gray hair on the pillow.

References:

https://www.enotes.com/topics/rose-emily/characters

https://study.com/academy/lesson/a-rose-for-emily-by-william-faulkner-summary-theme-
analysis.html

https://www.hks-siblab.org/essay/faulkners-a-rose-for-emily-analysis-summary-and-
themes/

https://www.sparknotes.com/short-stories/a-rose-for-emily/summary/

https://www.shmoop.com/study-guides/literature/a-rose-for-emily/analysis/plot-
analysis?fbclid=IwAR33fC85EMLtW5abfVOJT7FkjGEj6pN2WvcoDboH-tdi_-x-
boCMDm-C0Lg

https://www.shmoop.com/study-guides/literature/a-rose-for-emily/analysis/symbolism-
imagery-allegory

https://owlcation.com/humanities/A-Rose-For-Emily-William-Faulkner-Analysis-Themes-
Summary