A Rose For Emily (William Faulkner)

A ROSE FOR EMILY (WILLIAM
FAULKNER)
AUTHOR’S BIOGRAPHY
Author: William Faulkner
born on September 25, 1897, in New Albany, Mississippi, the US
passed away on July 6, 1962, in Byhalia city, still located in Mississippi, U.S
American novelist & short-story writer
Regarded as one of the greatest writers of the 20th century
pioneering use of the stream-of-consciousness technique, as well as the range and depth of
his characterization
his characters → the descendants of slaves to the richest of New South aristocrats, from the
illiterate and mentally ill to the Harvard-educated
Focal topics:
Morale and traditional vision of social relations
Racism
Psychological Issues
LIFE EVENTS
September 25, 1897
He was born.
His father, Murry Cuthbert Faulkner - was known as a railroad worker.
His mother is Maud Butler Faulkner.
A ROSE FOR EMILY (WILLIAM FAULKNER) 1

1915: William Faulkner leaves high school to work as a bookkeeper.
1918: William Falkner joins the Canadian Royal Air Force by changing the spelling of his name
to the British-sounding Faulkner.
1919—1920: William Faulkner is enrolled at the University of Mississippi.

1926: William Faulkner's first novel, Soldier's Pay, is published, drawing on his experiences in
World War I (1914—1918).
1929: William Faulkner's novel The Sound and the Fury is published.
June 20, 1929: William Faulkner marries Lida Estelle Oldham Franklin. She divorces her
husband to marry Faulkner, bringing two children to her second marriage and bearing Faulkner
two more daughters named Alabama, who died nine days after being born, and Jill.
1930: William Faulkner's novel As I Lay Dying is published.

1949: William Faulkner wins the Nobel Prize for literature.
1955: This year, William Faulkner is awarded the first of his two Pulitzer Prize awards for fiction
and the National Book Award.
1957—1958: William Faulkner is a writer-in-residence at the University of Virginia.

1961—1962: William Faulkner teaches, in the final year of his life, American literature at the
University of Virginia.
In 1962: William Faulkner's last novel, The Reivers, was published. It describes a boy's
transition into adulthood.
July 6, 1962: William Faulkner dies of a heart attack in Byhalia, Mississippi. He wills the major
manuscripts and personal papers in his possession to the Albert and Shirley Small Special
Collections Library at the University of Virginia.
1963: William Faulkner is awarded his second Pulitzer Prize in fiction.
LITERARY WORKS
Soldiers’ Pay (1926)
Mosquitoes (1927)
The Sound and the Fury (1929)
As I Lay Dying (1930)

Light in August (1932)
Absalom, Absalom! (1936)
The Hamlet (19k`40)
Intruder in the Dust (1949)
Knight’s Gambit (1951)
Mirrors of Chartres Street (1953)
Big Woods (1955)
New Orleans Sketches (edited by Carvel Collins, 1958)
The Mansion (1961)
The Reivers (1962)
GREATEST ACHIEVEMENTS
Here are 4 major milestones of William Faulkner we need to remember.
→ 1949: William Faulkner wins the Nobel Prize for literature.

→ 1955: first Pulitzer Prize
→ 1962: last novel - The Reivers
→ 1963: after his death → Second Pulitzer Prize
BRIEF INTRODUCTION
One of William Faulkner’s well-known pieces in literature
first published in 1930 in The Forum - American Magazine & also the writer’s first short
story published in a national magazine after the American Civil War
First published in the April 1930 Saturday Evening Post, "A Rose for Emily" was reprinted
in These Thirteen (1931), a collection of thirteen of Faulkner's stories. It was later included
in his Collected Stories (1950) and in the Selected Short Stories of William Faulkner (1961).
"A Rose for Emily" evokes the terms Southern Gothic and grotesque, two types of literature
in which the general tone is one of gloom, terror, and understated violence.

In “A Rose for Emily”, we can see clearly that in a small southern town where everyone’s
business is everyone else’s. Actually, we came across “Emily,” a woman with hidden
mysteries. The short story comes up with lots of weird things, images, and incidents after
Ms. Emily’s father’s death. And the thing that surprised us a lot was Ms. Emily’s actions.
Whispers fly faster than gossip at a hair salon. The townspeople become suspicious,
especially after a strange purchase she makes. The story is revealed like a puzzle with
missing pieces. As you read, you slowly discover what happened to Miss Emily and why she
acts the way she does.
PLOT SUMMARY
In Jefferson, Mississippi, stood an old house where a noble from the Old South, Ms. Emily, lived.
(Exposition) Her father raised her with overprotectiveness, keeping her from others, so when he
died, she was left alone. The summer after her father’s death, she met Homer Barron, the love of
her life. Her community believed that she had forgotten her family’s pride. (Rising Action) Her
affair continued, and she bought a bottle of arsen without explanation. One day, Homer left the
town and soon after came back. Then, Homer Barron never appeared once again. A stench came
from her house, but no one dared to ask her. (Climax) When she passed away, the villagers
accessed her house after the funeral. (Falling Action) They discovered Homer’s skeleton and a
strand of hair on the pillow. (Resolution)
NON-LINEAR STORYLINE:
Departs from a traditional linear narrative approach in revealing his characters’ inner selves
and motivations.
Fractures and manipulates the time.
Unfolds Emily's life through a series of flashbacks.
Allows for an exploration of the past and present, presenting a richly layered and
multidimensional world.
introduces two contrasting perceptions of time within the story.
One aligns with the mathematical progression and objective reality, where time moves
constantly forward, leaving the past immutable.
In contrast, the subjective view of time allows memories to remain vivid and influential,
regardless of temporal distance.

In “A Rose for Emily,” Faulkner departs from a traditional linear narrative approach in
revealing his characters’ inner selves and motivations. Instead, he fractures and manipulates the
time to stretch his story over many decades. Emily’s life unfolds through a series of flashbacks,
beginning with her funeral and then delving into past events. In the end, we surprisingly realize
that even the funeral scene is a flashback, preceding the opening of the upstairs bedroom door.
We witness Emily’s youth, where suitors are deterred by her father’s whip, and her old age,
culminating in her death at 74. Faulkner's nonlinear approach allows for an exploration of the
past and present, presenting a richly layered and multidimensional world. Faulkner introduces
two contrasting perceptions of time within the story. One aligns with the mathematical
progression and objective reality, where time moves constantly forward, leaving the past
immutable. In contrast, the subjective view of time allows memories to remain vivid and
influential, regardless of temporal distance. For Emily, the past remains a potent force, shaping
her present existence despite the passage of time. Even as life progresses, she remains something
of the past, unwilling to relinquish its hold on her identity.
CONFLICTS:
Man vs. the society:
The main and foremost conflict
In the dispute with the people, they asked her to pay taxes ("When the next generation, with
its more modern ideas, ... The tax notice was also enclosed, without comment." Section I,
paragraph 4)
She is also isolated by the townspeople ("fallen monument" Section I Paragraph 1; "Alive,
Miss Emily had been a tradition, a duty, and a care; a sort of hereditary obligation upon the
town, dating from that day in." Section I, Paragraph 3)
The elderly villagers did not care much about Emily's feelings ("Then some of the ladies
began to say that it was a disgrace to the town and a bad example to the young people [...],
and the following day the minister's wife wrote to Miss Emily's relations in Alabama."
Section IV, Paragraph 2)
Some people exposed Emily's privacy ("So the next night, after midnight, four men crossed
Miss Emily's lawn and slunk about the house like burglars, [...] After a week or two the
smell went away." Section II, Paragraph 10)

She did not want to get a new house number ("When the town got free postal delivery Miss
Emily alone refused to let them fasten the metal numbers above her door and attach a
mailbox to it. She would not listen to them." Section IV, Paragraph 9)
She denied the death of Colonel Sartoris and the presence of New South's authorities. ("See
Colonel Sartoris." (Colonel Sartoris had been dead almost ten years.)" Section I, Paragraph
14; "Perhaps he considers himself the sheriff…" Section I, Paragraph 10)
She is constant, a variant that diverted from the mathematical progression of time.
Man vs. Man

Emily was abolished the rights of freedom by her father ("her father a spraddled silhouette in
the foreground, his back to her and clutching a horsewhip," Section II Paragraph 11; "We
remembered all the young men her father had driven away," Section II Paragraph 14; "Then
we knew that this was to be expected too; as if that quality of her father which had thwarted
her woman's life so many times had been too virulent and too furious to die." Section IV
Paragraph 6)
He must have been the only one who could save Emily from loneliness.
However, he probably hung out with Emily to polish his fame (Because he was described as
a self-centered one: "Homer Barron would be in the center of the group" Section III
Paragraph 2; he also did not want to form a life-long commitment "that he was not a
marrying man" Section IV Paragraph 1)
He turned out to be nothing but her next grief.
Man vs. himself

The main and foremost conflict of this story is the conflict between Emily and her society. For
example, she finds herself in dispute with those who insist that she should pay taxes like an
ordinary citizen; she finds herself being criticized for falling in love with a working-class man,
not someone who is noble, who has high social status. She is also isolated by the townspeople, as
they regard her as a monument, a treasure, and a legacy whom they do not dare to talk to, to
form close relationships with the older people of the Jefferson who believe that Emily has
forgotten her pride like the wife’s minister to those villagers who exposed her privacy. She was
just someone who was not granted the right to change, the right to adapt, and the right to join
her community. She also refused to be a part of the time progression, showing through the way
she did not want to get a new house number or when she denied the death of Sartoris and the

new local authority. She, herself, and her existence conflict with her society - a variant, a
constant that diverted from the mathematical progression of time.
She also conflicts with particular individuals like her father and Homer Baron. As for her father,
he abolished the right for Emily to live her life but made choices for everything by himself. He
kicked out every nobleman who wanted to marry his beloved daughter without asking how she
felt. Thus, when her father lay under the patch of grass, she became utterly vulnerable and
isolated. Her own father was the one who started her tragedy.
As for Homer Barron, he must have been the man that Emily had sought for all her life. The
potential one who could rescue her from her grief, who might be able to teach her how to adapt
to the change and how to survive in the New South community. However, this man was nothing
more than a person who wanted to hang out with Emily to polish his own fame. In the story, the
writer describes H.B. as a self-centered person, and he was also not the one wanting to make a
life-long commitment. At one point in the story, this man was once intent on leaving her. As
someone who had long felt the loneliness, Emily herself, naturally, must have been in great
despair to the extent that she chose to keep Homer Barron for herself forever. She was both guilty
and pure at the same time, like a lively white rose whose petals were soaked in the red of blood.
It was still as beautiful as it always had been but now nourished through the flesh and blood of
another. That is why she is also in great conflict with herself. Her mentality is still like the day
her father left her; she still swells with pride in her family, she still interacts with others with
formalities that she has long learned, and she is still eccentric. But she has also committed an
unforgivable crime, and she has grown into an old, gloomy, and merely plump lady. A part of her
progress with the flow of time, but most of it is still staying at the point when she killed Homer
Barron. Her father could have created Emily’s tragedy, but Homer Barron was the one who
actually locked the pitiful Emily forever in the house of the past.
SETTING
Time setting
When Miss Emily died in the late 19th century
After the American Civil War (1861-1865)
Reconstruction era in the South
Her father died, and C. Sartori remitted her taxes.

Homer Barron arrived in Jefferson.

The "bad smell" episode occurred.
She gave lessons in china-painting.
The Alderman (new gen) visited her house.

Emily died at 74.
The town found her secret.

→ Events as they occur in time
→ Events as they are told in the story
Place setting
Emily’s house in the small town of Jefferson, South America
The South:
→ A Rose for Emily’ is set in the American South. The South lost the Civil War and fell into the
Reconstruction era lasting from the mid to late 1800s, stripping the South of everything but their
proud Southern heritage. William Faulkner uses his text as a metaphor for the South’s struggle to
abandon their traditions for modernity during the Reconstruction era through the life of Miss
Emily.
Jefferson
→ Jefferson is a fictional town, it is the setting for much of William Faulkner’s fiction.
Emily’s house
→ The house was the only old house left on the street, while ‘garages and cotton gins’ had
replaced the other houses. In the short story, the house plays a significant role in developing
Emily's characteristics. And I will analyze these features later.
The locked room:
→ The locked room at the top of Miss Emily’s house covers a dreadful secret, and this is a
symbol of her isolation and loneliness. She sets up the room as a bridal chamber for a wedding
that will never take place and then keeps her would-be groom inside the room.
Culture setting
Relations between the North and the South during Faulkner's time, after slavery had collapsed
The South → traditional, conservative

The North → adaptable, open
A Rose for Emily can be seen as a metaphor for the relations between the North and the South
during Faulkner's time. The South is known for being traditional, and the North is very
adaptable to change.
After the Civil War, after slavery had collapsed
Southerners did not give up their aristocratic culture but they clung to pre-Civil War
traditions, ideals, and institutions and wanted to return to the glorious past in memory than in
reality.
Northerners become more broad-minded and open, they adapt to changes in life, even when
the world around them changes quickly.
=> The setting is the decisive element related to the way the writer develops the characters
throughout this short story
CHARACTERS
Miss Emily:
major character
round character
dynamic character
the Old South, upper class:
→ This story talks about the tragic life of a southern noblewoman because of the changed social
system after the Civil War. As I mentioned in the previous part, Miss Emily is the symbol of the
Old Southerners who still cling to the glorious era before the Civil War
→ Class in this story, like in many of Faulkner`s other works, has a decisive influence on the
way people think and act (Tobe’s presence, a slave, in the story quietly reminds us Miss Emily
has remained stuck in a bygone era)
mysterious:
→ The town tells the story of what they saw. We never get to see Miss Emily talking to herself,
uh, we're not inside of her head, we're not inside of her heart. Most of the events related to her
are told by other people, so it is impossible for us, even for the people living near her to know

exactly what she has done in her house and what she's thinking. She seems to be a weak
character who has a sense of deprivation of independence in her life. Her life was driven by
others, and this reason makes her mysterious enough in the short story.
not a real human being:
→ Throughout the short story, there are many vivid images of Miss Emily the author creates in
the story. He often describes her as something like an idol, statue, sort of curiosity in the museum
not a human being.
+ When people attend her funeral, she is a “fallen monument”
+ When people recrossed the lawn after sprinkling lime, she “evidently shut up the top of the
house - like the carven torso of an idol in a niche”
+ She had ceased to be a real human being, but had completely become a sort of monument, a
symbol of “a tradition and hereditary obligation”
She was motionless suited her rigid and stubborn personality. In these details, she didn’t look like
a living person but an idol, or a goddess. And you know, not being a human equal people can
dispossess of her full rights as a human whenever they want. It can be seen obviously when they
control her life unreasonably
stubborn, conservative:
→ Although the world surrounding Emily is moving forward and changing quickly, she is
stubborn and conservative sinking into a private world safely frozen in the past, unchanging. And
the way she keeps the old things, the way she is stubborn or conservative, and the way she insists
on her own way can be found in:
+ Her house
Even the house is stubborn. “Miss Emily's house was left, lifting its stubborn and coquettish
decay above the cotton wagons and the gasoline pumps” (Section 1). So the author
personifies Miss Emily’s house by using words like “lifting its stubborn and coquettish
decay”. This symbolizes that the house and its owner share the same character. So, based on
the details that the writer uses to describe this house, we can partly guess her personality. So
now let's begin with her house to discover how she is obstinate as a mule
“But garages and cotton gins had encroached and obliterated even the august names of that
neighborhood; only Miss Emily's house was left”
Grierson's house is out of place in the modern world.

garages and cotton gins = symbols of science and technological advances. they are invading
space by bringing modernity, developments with new technologies, social structures, and cultural
trends to this town. BUT ONLY Miss Emily's house is left. Yah see, everyone in the town
gradually accepts the modern things in the new era, but Miss Emily, like the house, is left behind.
It is reasonable. She represents the Old South, the old ways of thinking, the past glorious period.
So it may be difficult for those who focus only on the past to adapt to new situations and learn
new things quickly.
“lifting its stubborn and coquettish decay above the cotton wagons and the gasoline pumps-an
eyesore among eyesores”
her house is an eyesore: The sight of its coquettish decay evokes a sense of melancholy, which is
a poignant reminder of the way of life before the Civil War is dying, and other things on the
street are a reminder of changes, a tangible sign that slavery collapsed. Although being hated and
isolated or facing the changes, the house defiantly holds its ground, it keeps standing there
stubbornly, above the modernity of life, like its owner. The house, in calling back to earlier
traditions, embodies the desperation to cling to a disappearing way of life that many people in the
South felt at the time
+ Mayor & dad’s death
One further element of Emily's house is her father's crayon portrait. In the living room, the
portrait of Emily's father stands as a firm reminder of the past, which Emily cannot let go or live
without. Emily refuses to accept the fact of her father's death, she keeps his body inside the house
for 3 days. Miss Emily sicks for a long time; when she appears in public, “her hair was cut short,
making her look like a girl” = her girlish haircut seems like a subtle affirmation of this denial, a
sign that she still thinks of herself as daddy’s little girl. Additionally, when people bring food and
try to support her, "Miss Emily met them at the door dressed as usual, with no trace of grief on
her face.” She told them that her father was not dead.
+ Her trait can be seen in how she dealt with the tax problems. No matter how much they insist,
she refuses, claiming that a former mayor of the town has remitted her tax
+ Not only her house, but her stubbornness can also be found in her old handwriting style, and
her using stationery that's decades old like papyrus.
Do you remember in section 1 when the Aldermen visited her house, the writer describes that the
watch vanished into her belt, which means she did not look at the watch. What does the watch
symbolize? Time. By making her watch invisible, Miss Emily tried to ignore the passage of time
and any changes in this world.

+ Meanwhile, the town is moving forward. Not only do they have the sidewalks, but they're
getting a post office or postal service. But Miss Emily refuses to let them put the numbers on her
door and attach a mailbox to the house. She doesn't even let people repair the house. Everything
will stay like it was, in a static, preserved mode.
life moves on with her — but she stays committed, regardless, to the past.
high and mighty:
→ The way she treats the mayor and the druggist
The readers hardly ever see Emily open her mouth in the short story ⇒
there are only 2 times she
does so: when there is an issue with taxes and when she wants to buy arsenic.
On both occasions, her manner shows that she takes no notice of what others say, she ignores all
their explanation about the situation. Now they go, and she listens to them. It says she did not ask
them to sit. So that means that she did not invite them to make themselves comfortable, you
know, she did not offer them a drink ⇒ she flat-out refuses to pay her taxes. So again, she thinks
she's above the law, or that rules don't apply to her, because of her status, perhaps. She does not
need to be questioned. She will not let anyone question her actions, her motives. “She just stares
at him until he relents, sells it to her, and he just writes on the box,”
→ Even when her father leaves her nothing except the house, and lets her sink into poverty,
Emily still retains her aristocratic manner. We can see this through the moment she carried her
head high even when people believed that she had fallen or when they felt sorry for her.
insecure, reclusive:
→ insecure ⇒ afraid of being abandoned by Barron after knowing that he is not a marrying man
⇒ it is no wonder that Miss Emily attempts to take control of her own life, to live on her terms,
to be the master of her fate so that her marriage could last forever.
So that, instead of letting Homer leave her, Miss Emily takes absolute control over his life,
literally turning him into an object that she can manipulate at will
→ Reclusive
After her father dies, she retreats into her house and stays there, except for a brief interlude
during which she goes for buggy rides with Homer Barron. After she kills Barron, she remains in
the house for the rest of her life.
In fact, for most of Miss Emily's life, her only tenuous connection from the outside world, from
the town is through a black servant, Tobe. He is her loyal servant who gave his whole life to the

care of Miss Emily. He protects her privacy from the prying eyes and ears of the town.
No one in Jefferson knows what Emily did in the house and Emily also did not know how the
world outside changed. This explains why she doesn't realize that C.S died
mentally unstable:
→ Miss Emily's character can best be described as eccentric, not crazy enough to be in a mental
institution, but someone who acts outside the mainstream of thought.
We see this first when she initially refuses to give up her father's body after he dies. This
becomes even more obvious when we learn that she has killed Barron, presumably because he
was going to break up with her and move away. Most women, of course, would be sad and
depressed if their boyfriend announced his intention to leave. However, they would not plan to
kill him and then sleep with his dead body. But Emily chooses to keep him forever by her side by
killing him maybe because she judges it the best way to ensure a faithful and lasting marriage.
And she sleeps beside the dead Barron because to her he is still living.
Maybe this behavior runs in the family because her great-aunt also gets mad, suggesting that
Miss Emily’s case is not isolated.
Do you remember that her house is heavily lightsome? ⇒ oxymoron, lightsome is adj used to
describe something positive but it goes with heavily. it sounds like a mask, a thick mask that try
hard to hide something in this house such as murderous action. the house is trying hard to seem
nice, display positivity to make itself look pleasant, wealthy
murderous
being controlled:
→ She is being controlled by her family and the society

+ Father:
In the short story, her mother isn’t mentioned. It can be assumed that Emily’s life lacked a
motherly figure, and she completely associated herself with her father. This is a man who had
ruled her life and prevented her from starting any other kind of life. Her father was also very
close and protective of his daughter. He would disregard any suitor for his daughter. They are the
upper class, so it's reasonable that they held themselves a little too high. So it must be a suitable
alliance. However, her father’s overprotective behavior can take away her chance to have a better
life and when he's dead, she will cling to her father, cling had robbed her

do you remember the image that the father was standing in the foreground while Miss Emily
was standing in the background?
“We had long thought of them as a tableau, Miss Emily a slender figure in white in the
background, her father a spraddled silhouette in the foreground, his back to her and clutching a
horsewhip, the two of them framed by the back-flung front door.”
⇒ This tells several things about the relationship between father and daughter in the Grierson
family. This shows the father’s dominant position and the daughter’s subordinate role. The
father’s spraddling adds to his image as a stern patriarchal figure.
the father turned his back to her

⇒ he refused to listen to her, denying her wishes. Then, Mr. Grierson was clutching a
horsewhip, which is clearly a symbol of power, authority, and strict control. Miss Emily’s
slender figure suggests vulnerability. And her white dress symbolizes purity. The most valued
quality of the Southern white women.
Even in death, the father still controls her through his portrait as I mentioned in the previous
point. This portrait indicates that he will always keep an eye on Emily
+ Society:
she is some sort of burden and responsibility that the town sees as one of its own traditions that it
has a duty to protect and care for. they see her as a living legend so that they preserve her, look
after her, keep her in the manner to which she is accustomed.
Like her father, the town also controls her romantic relationship with Homer Baron. They began
to say that it was a disgrace to the town and a bad example to the young people, forcing the
Baptist minister to call upon her. When the minister unsuccessfully prevents her from having an
affair with Homer, they keep sending a letter to her relations in Alabama.
firm will
lonely: → Since her father died, she lives alone in the house with a servant and they don't
even talk to each other “He talked to no one, probably not even to her, for his voice had
grown harsh and rusty, as if from disuse”, and in addition she has no relatives nearby
not only Emily being mad like that
“dear, inescapable, impervious, and tranquil”: To describe how the townspeople felt
about Miss Emily. They reflected the townspeople’s ambivalent attitude toward Emily cause
These words are precise, but these are usual adjectives that don’t fit comfortably together.

→ dear: she represented the Southern heritage to a certain extent.
→ inescapable: she was “a sort of hereditary obligation upon the town”
→ impervious: not affected by any changes taking place in the town, and her imperviousness
was well reflected by her ignoring the tax notice and her refusal to pay taxes
→ tranquil: Though she was tragic, she remained calm and free from disturbance. Her
tranquility as well as rigidity was portrayed by her motionless silhouette in the window. She was
certainly perverse, always behaving in an unreasonable way and regularly doing the opposite of
what people expected her to do
intimidating:
→ This is because she is still highly respected in the town and she is a mysterious woman. There
are several details telling us that she is intimidating.
+ sneaky behavior of the authorities
four men attempt to sprinkle lime around her house secretly because of the bad smell. Before
that, many townspeople complained to Judge Steven about this but he refused to accuse Miss
Emily to her face of smelling bad. So they slunk about the house like “burglars” because they
are afraid to confront her
+ the servant, Tobe
Do you think that Tobe knows about the murder in this house?
I think that Tobe may be complicit in Emily’s murderous act, does he know about it? he can
smell his dead body, he is fully aware of this, he knows about what she has done, and he is just
adhering to do what he is in charge -> sense of a real power
+ Even though Miss Emily died, townspeople are still afraid of her dead body and people want to
make sure Miss Emily is completely buried so that they can enter her room freely, comfortably
Mr. Grierson:
Mr. Grierson Emily’s father. Mr. Grierson, the head of the Grierson family, is controlling, and
has a huge influence over Emily, even until his death. We get glimpses of him in the story: in the
crayon portrait kept on the gilt-edged easel in the parlor, and silhouetted in the doorway,
horsewhip in hand, having chased off another of Emily’s suitors.
minor character
flat character

static character
Emily’s father
controlling & overprotective:
→ Throughout her life, Emily's father was extremely controlling. Mr. Grierson shapes the person
that Emily becomes. He drove all her potential suitors away because he did not feel like anyone
was good enough for his little girl. The town ''thought of them as a tableau, Miss Emily a slender
figure in white in the background, her father a spraddled silhouette in the foreground, his back to
her and clutching a horsewhip, the two of them framed by the back-flung front door.''
→ In other words, his overprotection felt as though it was his responsibility to stand front and
center to protect her from potential dangers, but as he did, his back was to Emily in a way that
stalled her social and emotional development.
Disinterested:
→ Mr. Grierson does love his daughter. But, along with that is his selfishness. This leads to him
excessively protecting his daughter, wanting to keep her by his side permanently. But perhaps he
forgets that his daughter is also human; she also desires to love and be loved in her youth, yet he
neglects her desires. Eventually, when he passes away, she is left alone at the age of 30.
Furthermore, he protected her in his arms, but forgot to decide the rest of her life without him →
he passed away, she hardly engaged with society, became isolated and alienated.
Homer Barron:
Not long after Emily’s father's death, the appearance of Homer Barron, who is a stranger in town
came to Jefferson to help pave the sidewalks raising people's attention and sparking discussions.
minor character (but major role)
flat character
static character
Appearance
+ First of all, Homer was described as a “big,” loud, “Yankee”. a foreman named Homer Barron,
a Yankee— a big, dark, ready man, with a big voice and eyes lighter than his face.
It's easy to understand given his appearance, he seems different from all of the other people,
because

+ Come from the North, Northerner, and day laborer, one lower-class
+ “Of course, a Grierson would not think seriously of a Northerner, a day laborer.”
His status was regarded as “far below” Ms. Emily’s social standing. Of course, he is just a
laborer, working class, he also comes from the Northern, so how can he deserve the one person in
the higher class, who embodies the fading aristocracy
Homer’s role in Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” is largely symbolic. He represents the Northern
influence that pervaded the South after the Civil War. Homer represents everything the South
isn’t, he doesn’t believe in the old traditions and goes against the traditions and sensibilities of
the South.
Comparison table for the Northern and Old South:
OLD SOUTH NORTH
fading aristocracy and class division social mobility and revised class expectations
old traditions modernity and industrialization
Resist changes Engage with community
Personality: Though citizens of Jefferson dismissed his status as a Northerner, at the same
time, they came to appreciate Homer.
+ Gregarious nature and sense of humor: Homer attracted people in the town with charm,
initially becoming the center of attention and the object of affection.
Whenever you heard a lot of laughing anywhere about the square, Homer Barron would
be in the center of the group.
+ Care for Emily: He develops an interest in Emily and takes her for Sunday drives in a yellow-
wheeled buggy.
Presently we began to see him and Miss Emily on Sunday afternoons driving in the yellow-
wheeled buggy and the matched team of bays from the livery stable.
There is some interesting in his

+ "Was not a marrying man": His relationship with Emily is disliked by the people, but after 2
years the townspeople just want them to get married, however, it seems like Homer chooses to
abandon Emily rather than settle down and get married because "Homer himself had remarked--
he liked men, and it was known that he drank with the younger men in the Elks' Club--that he

was not a marrying man." by portraying him as an eternal bachelor, dedicated to his single status
and uninterested in marriage.
+ A gruff and demanding boss: "The little boys would follow in groups to hear him cuss the
niggers, and the niggers singing in time to the rise and fall of picks".
Role in the story
+ Relationship with Emily

The life of Emily revolved solely around her father, who constantly sought to control and
manipulate her. After her father's death, it was as if she lost the only anchor in her life, and
she seemed to lose that sense of control over her own life. She became adrift in the
community, feeling lost and disconnected.
The change that Homer brings to Emily’s life Homer enters her life, as her new source of
support, a place for her to lean on and confide in. For Emily, Homer represents a glimmer of
hope in the darkness of loneliness. As her first true love, someone who teaches her the
feeling of being loved and loving (could be the pretense) in return. Homer brings about a
change in Emily's life, as her first real lover.
For Emily, he was the man she loved and looked forward to a long, happy life. But for
Homer, she was just a temporary joy. Homer was aimless and indefinite; he probably saw her
as a means to enhance his reputation. What could be better than a laborer getting involved
with a respected noble lady, allowing him to exploit her to elevate his status? Homer Barron
takes Emily as his lover and strings her along. Homer Barron leads Emily to believe he
would marry her, but one day Emily sees the truth that Homer Barron “liked men and … – he
was not a marrying man”. She realizes Homer will never marry her, which is impossible, so
he leaves. And he received a bitter ending.
Furthermore, the way Emily embraces Homer, despite their social differences and his
status as a laborer, indicates that Emily is motivated to make a change. She is willing to
open herself up to modernization, to embrace something new in her life, and Homer
catalyzes that change.
+ Relationship with the society
Homer is seen as a symbol of change and modernization in the town of Jefferson. He brings
innovation to the rapidly changing world of this Southern town, whose new leaders are
themselves pursuing more “modern” ideas → Signs from the southern region are also
gradually showing a desire for improvement, embracing the new.

The townspeople - New South:
→ the citizens in Jefferson
→ the new generation of the Southern
→ gossip
Insincere:
→ Under the protection of her father, Emily lived a decent life. However, after her father’s death,
she had no one to depend on. At this time, the townspeople begin to feel glad because they think
they can pity Miss Emily.
“When her father died, it got about that the house was all that was left to her; and in a way,
people were glad. At last they could pity Miss Emily. Being left alone, and a pauper, she had
become humanized. Now she too would know the old thrill and the old despair of a penny
more or less”.
⇒ The townspeople are glad that Emily would not act as if she is above them, and she would
become approachable. They sneer because, in the end, they can see her as just an ordinary
person, below her nobility, which makes them jealous and even envious of her before.
⇒ Without the protection of her father, Emily would not belong to the upper class, and she
could not compete with them in ordinary life. Witnessing the collapse of the old aristocratic
class gives them a sense of superiority
⇒ And they could see Emily having to open the door to welcome them to her father's funeral,
perhaps at this moment, they brought a bit of sneer to visit someone who had passed away.
“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”.
→ Giving themselves the right to judge, and assess others as they believe that Emily is crazy.
“We did not say she was crazy then. We believed she had to do that. [...]”
⇒ They realize that now she is alone, without any support, they can freely point fingers, and
judge her without fear of class boundaries, fear of her father as before, now considering, they
are right, Emily now appears to be like a crazy person clinging to her last emotional support,
even though this behavior is very normal for those who have lost their loved ones.
→ Contradictory feelings: When Homer Barron appears and develops feelings for her. The
feelings of the townspeople about their love affair are complex.

⇒ At first, we were glad that Miss Emily would have an interest, because the ladies all said,
"Of course, a Grierson would not think seriously of a Northerner, a day laborer." But there
were still others, older people, who said that even grief could not cause a real lady to forget
noblesse oblige without calling it noblesse oblige.
⇒ On the one hand, they hope the two can get married, but it’s not just simple to wish them
happiness, it is because their marriage will prove that Miss Emily is the common person.
From this, Emily is equal to them. She will be even more of an ordinary person, now she is
deeper than when her father passed away.
⇒ On the other hand, people, especially the old people, show pity for Miss Emily. As the
incarnation of the Old South, she should not and cannot marry a man from the labor class of
the North. This is not only a disgrace to Emily, but to the whole townspeople because they
and their ancestors would lose nobleness.
⇒ Therefore, they thought of her kinsfolk in Alabama and hoped that her kins could come to
persuade her. Even though the relationship between the two sides has long been disconnected
for many years. They had not even been represented at the funeral.
⇒ How ridiculous it is that the effort to preserve old traditions, considering themselves noble
compared to the North, is more important than Emily's happiness and needs. In the past, they
were all happy because she was finally brought down to the same level, but now, they attach
the noble title to her. They force her to continue becoming an icon of the aristocratic class
and their long-standing tradition. They see her as a symbol of the old South, her
responsibility is maintaining the old tradition, forcing her to become noble and not to
associate with a northern laborer. Maybe, the contradictory feelings of Emily are the
reflection of their attitude towards the Old South. They show respect for long-standing
traditions; at the same time, they want to get rid of the backward agricultural economy.
→ The townspeople say "Poor Emily" three times "Poor Emily. Her kinsfolk should come to
her."
⇒ And as soon as the old people said, "Poor Emily," the whispering began. "Do you suppose
it's really so?" they said to one another. "Of course it is. What else could . . ."
⇒ This behind their hands; rustling of craned silk and satin behind jalousies closed upon the
sun of Sunday afternoon as the thin, swift clop-clop-clop of the matched team passed: "Poor
Emily."
→ These depict the townspeople's reaction to Emily's situation, showing a mix of pity, curiosity,
and gossip. The repetition of "Poor Emily" reflects a sense of sympathy and perhaps

condescension towards her.
⇒ The first time, they poor her, but they invited the kinsfolks who hadn’t represented in her
father’s funeral.
⇒ The second time, the whispered conversations among the townspeople reveal their intrigue
and uncertainty about Emily's circumstances, yes, they even don’t know if is it true, but they
still say “Poor Emily”, which suggests a lack of clarity regarding the truth of her situation,
just interested in her story and adding a few words of gossip for entertainment.
⇒ The third time, the description of rustling silk and satin and the sound of a passing team of
horses create a vivid and atmospheric backdrop to the unfolding events, enhancing the sense
of mystery and drama surrounding Emily, the whispering behind their hands shows that they
only dare to talk behind her back, staying in the shadows to gossip, not daring to confront her
face-to-face.
Inquisitive:
→ During Homer’s leaving, Emily went out to buy poison. Faced with the constant inquiry of
the druggist, Emily just responded that she wanted the arsenic, and refused to answer her
purpose. All she said was “I want some poison”, “I want the best you have. I don’t care what
kind”, “Arsenic, is that a good one?”, and “I want arsenic”, and her face looked like “a
strained flag”. In the end, the druggist chooses not to come back to confront Emily. To some
extent, the druggist represents those who keep an eye on Emily. In the next few days, the
townspeople guess that Emily will kill herself because they think that Emily’s love affair with
Homer was “a disgrace to the town and a bad example to the young people”. In their minds,
the death of Emily is the best result of this incident. They prefer the death of Emily to the
humiliation of the nobleness of their ancestors and the Old South. Therefore, the
maintenance of Old South’s nobleness outweighs Emily’s life.
→ After some time, when the smell developed, they believed it was the chance of Emily’s
collapse, and they could approach Emily, so that “It was another link between the gross,
teeming world and the high and mighty Griersons”. When the four men cross Miss Emily’s
lawn and sprinkle lime, it is the signal that the townspeople can control Emily’s life, and
become the fathering role like Colonel Sartoris. However, the upright and motionless torso of
Emily sitting behind a window proves that the townspeople will not and cannot be equal or
superior to her. Years later, a similar scene happened again. When the new generation grew
up and was in office, they sent a tax deputation to collect taxes. But Emily’s motionless
figure, arrogant attitude, and dry, cold voice made the deputation halt their request.

Therefore, the narration goes “So she vanquished them, horse and foot, just as she had
vanquished their fathers thirty years before the smell”.
→ For the townspeople, the death of Emily is the turning point because they can understand
her life by looking at her mysterious residential house. They knew Emily’s upstairs house had
not been opened for forty years. Emily’s whole life is intensely scrutinized, discussed, and
even interfered with by the townspeople. In other words, her life is openly public to the
townspeople. However, when the narration reaches the end, we find that they cannot
understand Miss Emily even after her death, she remains a mystery to the townspeople before
and after her death.
The conflicting feelings of the townspeople towards Emily showed their views on the
Old South. As they abandoned the limitations of the Old South, they realized these
limitations were ingrained in their culture. Emily's uncertainty mirrored their mixed
feelings about the South's future. Thus, under the townspeople's watchful eyes, Emily
became both a symbol of admiration and blame.
POINT OF VIEW:
The story is told by first-person narrator, indefinite narrators rather than only one person
because there is frequent emergence of “we” and “us” in the story. Besides that, the age
of these narrators is uncertain, but they are older than the new generation and younger
than Emily.
Therefore, they would record the whole life of Emily. It can be the narrators here are the
townspeople, who can witness and express their emotions towards Emily from their
perspective. By using the "we" narrator, Faulkner creates a sense of closeness between
readers and his story. It also allows for the community’s thoughts to come together and
push Emily over the ledge she has been standing near for a long period. This helps give
the story a sense of depth and understanding. It also gives readers a more personal
connection to Emily's story and allows them to empathize with her more deeply.
THEMES:
Death: The death of the title character is obviously a central event in the story. The very
first words of the story are ‘When Miss Emily Grierson died’, and the story returns to her
death, and what is discovered in the wake of it (a dead body), at the end of the narrative.
In between, the narrator tells us about the incidents in Emily’s life and the responses of

the townspeople, but death ‘bookends’ the story. Miss Emily’s death symbolizes the
death of something greater: the death of the Old South, of which she is one of the few
surviving members. When she dies, another part of the old world dies with her. The
death of Miss Emily is not just an event in the story: it is thematically important to the
story as a whole, because ‘A Rose for Emily’ is about the death of the American South
that existed when Emily was born but is now no more.
Old South:
→ Emily is a product of the Old South stretching back to the antebellum days, before the
American Civil War which led to the abolition of slavery in the South. Emily represents the
Old South, an outdated edifice that is (literally) decaying and dying out. And what is the Old
South being replaced with? The new industrial America: cotton and gasoline are now the way
the townspeople make their money. Emily, a Southern lady, falls for Homer Barron, a man
from the North of the United States. He is described as a large man, symbolizing the financial
power of New York (his hometown) which is spreading its influence across the new America.
→ Although most readers will interpret Emily’s poisoning of Homer as an act of frustrated
and obsessive love, it is also arguably a symbolic act of revenge, in which the Old South
asserts itself one final time against the powerhouse of the North.
Community and Isolation:
The odd relationship between the town of Jefferson and Emily is a recurrent theme in ‘‘A
Rose for Emily.’’ Throughout the novel, Emily has very little to do with the townspeople
during her life. Emily starts and continues to isolate herself from the rest of the community
for the better part of her life. The only notable exceptions to her isolation are her Sunday
rides with Homer Barron, her shopping trips for arsenic and men’s clothing, and the china-
painting lessons she gives to the young women of the town for a few years. These exceptions
only serve to show how alienated Emily is from the rest of Jefferson. Although Emily is
indifferent to the town, the town seems to be almost obsessed with her. The reaction Jefferson
has to her relationship with Homer Barron exemplifies this obsession. The ladies of Jefferson
are mortified and the older people dislike the relationship because they think it is bad form
for a Southern woman to associate with a Yankee, and so on. These various reactions
demonstrate an interesting conflict. Even though Emily views herself as separate from the
community, she is literally surrounded by the community. She is alone within the community
which she has shunned and which views her as an object of gossip, disapproval, and, most of
all, pity.

FIGURARIVE LANGUAGES:
1. Metaphor:
Definition: compare the attributes of one thing/person and something else.
Examples: “WHEN Miss Emily Grierson died, our whole town went to her funeral: the
men through a sort of respectful affection for a fallen monument, the women mostly out
of curiosity to see the inside of her house…” (Section 1 Paragraph 1).
Effects: Miss Emily is referred to as a “fallen monument” in the story, and she is a
“monument” of Southern gentility, an ideal of past values, but she has fallen because she
has shown herself susceptible to death. This metaphor vividly reveals that Miss Emily’s
death signals the end of the traditional system in the South of America.
2. Symbolism:
Definition: the use of symbols to represent ideas or qualities. (Oxford Dictionary)
Examples: Horsewhip, Emily’s family versus Jefferson townspeople
Effects: In this short story, we can find many symbols used; for example, Emily’s
father’s horsewhip is depicted in her family picture. His horsewhip is symbolic of the
violence, dominance, control, and influence that he exerted on his daughter. Through this
symbol, William Faulkner also implicitly gives us some ideas about the characters of
Emily’s dad, even though he does not genuinely appear in the story. In addition, the
ruined family from the southern part of America symbolizes the significant change in the
social systems of the southern part of America.
3. Simile:
Definition: A simile, as one of the figurative languages, is a way of comparing one thing
with another, of explaining what one thing is like by showing how it is similar to another
thing, and it explicitly signals itself in a text, with the words as or like.
Examples: For example, sentences like “She looked bloated like a body long submerged
in motionless water and of that pallid hue. Her eyes, lost in the fatty ridges of her face,
looked like two small pieces of coal pressed into a lump of dough as they moved from
one face to another while the visitors stated their errand.” (Section 1, Paragraph 6)
Effects: The former describes Miss Emily’s body, which is very obese, and the latter
shows her inactive eyes. The impact of her separation from the outside world is

generated using the description of Miss Emily’s appearance. Also, a feeling of sympathy
is produced.
4. Humanization
Definition: When animals, objects, or concepts are given specific human attributes,
humanization takes place. Writers make use of this device to create human emotions.
Examples: For example, in Section 1, the sentence “But garages and cotton gins had
encroached and obliterated even the august names of that neighborhood;” is
humanization
Effects: The verb “encroached” means approaching or taking control of something

gradually or without being noticed. The verb “obliterated” means removing all signs of
something, either by destroying it or covering it so that it can not be seen. Here, Faulkner
describes human behavior in relation to garages and cotton gins. “Garages and cotton
gins” represents the new system in America, and “the august names of that
neighborhood” signal the traditional system. It shows that the old system in the South of
America was gradually replaced quietly by the new system. By using humanization, the
aesthetic effect is achieved.
5. Parallelism
Definition: parallelism means exact repetition in equivalent positions. It differs from

simple repetition because it doesn’t extend to absolute duplication.
Examples: In this short story, parallelism can be found in Section II. “We did not say she
was crazy then. We believed she had to do that. We remembered all the young men her
father had driven away, and we knew that with nothing left, she would have to cling to
that which had robbed her, as people will.” There are four sentences in this selected
passage, and they are parallel.
Effects: “We,” as the subject, is repeated in all the four sentences. These parallel
sentences emphasize the point that Faulkner wants to express his sympathy and
compassion for the tragic fate of Miss Emily and create a sense of closeness between
readers and his story.
6. Repetition:
Definition: the exact coping of a certain previous unit in a text, such as a word, phrase,
or sentence (Leech, 1969).

Examples:
→ There are two places showing repetition in this story. One is in Section I, “Her voice was
dry and cold. “I have no taxes in Jefferson. Colonel Sartoris explained it to me. Perhaps one
of you can gain access to the city records and satisfy yourselves.” “But we have. We are the
city authorities, Miss Emily. Didn't you get a notice from the sheriff signed by him?” “I
received a paper, yes,” Miss Emily said. “Perhaps he considers himself the sheriff . . . I have
no taxes in Jefferson.” “But there is nothing on the books to show that, you see, we must go
by the—” “See Colonel Sartoris. I have no taxes in Jefferson.” “But, Miss Emily—” “See
Colonel Sartoris.” (Colonel Sartoris had been dead almost ten years.) “I have no taxes in
Jefferson. To be!” The Negro appeared. “Show these gentlemen out.” (Colonel Sartoris had
been dead almost ten years.) “I have no taxes in Jefferson. To be!” The Negro appeared.
“Show these gentlemen out.”
Example:
→ Another is in part III, Without calling it noblesse oblige. They just said, “Poor Emily. Her
kinsfolk should come to her.” She had some kin in Alabama; but years ago, her father had
fallen out with them over the estate of old lady Wyatt, the crazy woman, and there was no
communication between the two families. They had not even been represented at the funeral.
And as soon as the old people said, “Poor Emily,” the whispering began. “Do you suppose it's
really so?” they said to one another. “Of course it is. What else could . . .” This behind their
hands; rustling of craned silk and satin behind jalousies closed upon the sun of Sunday
afternoon as the thin, swift clop-clop-clop of the matched team passed: “Poor Emily.”
Effects:
→ The sentence “I have no taxes in Jefferson.” is repeated four times. Miss Emily says this
sentence when a deputation asks her to pay taxes. The purpose of repetition here is to
emphasize Miss Emily’s obstinateness and her inability to change her ideas. Miss Emily’s
character tragedy lies in the obstinate traditional sense of hierarchy in the Old South of
America. In this way, Miss Emily’s character is vividly presented.
→ A sentence like “Poor Emily.” is said by people around Miss Emily three times. The
repetition of “Poor Emily” shows Faulkner’s sympathy for Miss Emily.
7. Title:
The rose is a symbol often associated with love, beauty, and romance, as seen in classical
mythology with Venus and Aphrodite. It's given on special occasions like weddings and

Valentine's Day. In the story, Emily's life parallels the rose's symbolism. She keeps
people at a distance like the prickly flower, and her isolated lifestyle leads to tragedy,
much like a rose's thorns can be harmful. The rose may have also symbolized her
potential happiness if Homer had married her. The story begins with Emily's funeral,
where roses likely represent mourning. Death is a recurring theme, reflecting Emily's
reluctance to embrace change and her fixation on the past, leading to a life of stagnation
and despair, much like the decaying Old South.

A Rose For Emily (William Faulkner)

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A Rose For Emily (William Faulkner)

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A ROSE FOR EMILY (WILLIAM

born on September 25, 1897, in New Albany, Mississippi, the US

American novelist & short-story writer

Regarded as one of the greatest writers of the 20th century

His father, Murry Cuthbert Faulkner - was known as a railroad worker.

His mother is Maud Butler Faulkner.

A ROSE FOR EMILY (WILLIAM FAULKNER) 1

1919—1920: William Faulkner is enrolled at the University of Mississippi.

1930: William Faulkner's novel As I Lay Dying is published.

1957—1958: William Faulkner is a writer-in-residence at the University of Virginia.

The Sound and the Fury (1929)

As I Lay Dying (1930)

A ROSE FOR EMILY (WILLIAM FAULKNER) 2

Absalom, Absalom! (1936)

The Hamlet (19k`40)

Intruder in the Dust (1949)

Knight’s Gambit (1951)

Mirrors of Chartres Street (1953)

Big Woods (1955)

New Orleans Sketches (edited by Carvel Collins, 1958)

The Mansion (1961)

The Reivers (1962)

→ 1949: William Faulkner wins the Nobel Prize for literature.

A ROSE FOR EMILY (WILLIAM FAULKNER) 3

Fractures and manipulates the time.

Unfolds Emily's life through a series of flashbacks.

introduces two contrasting perceptions of time within the story.

A ROSE FOR EMILY (WILLIAM FAULKNER) 4

A ROSE FOR EMILY (WILLIAM FAULKNER) 5

Man vs. Man

He turned out to be nothing but her next grief.

Man vs. himself

A ROSE FOR EMILY (WILLIAM FAULKNER) 6

After the American Civil War (1861-1865)

Reconstruction era in the South

Her father died, and C. Sartori remitted her taxes.

A ROSE FOR EMILY (WILLIAM FAULKNER) 7

The Alderman (new gen) visited her house.

The town found her secret.

→ Events as they are told in the story

The locked room:

The South → traditional, conservative

A ROSE FOR EMILY (WILLIAM FAULKNER) 8

After the Civil War, after slavery had collapsed

the Old South, upper class:

A ROSE FOR EMILY (WILLIAM FAULKNER) 9

not a real human being:

A ROSE FOR EMILY (WILLIAM FAULKNER) 10

A ROSE FOR EMILY (WILLIAM FAULKNER) 11

high and mighty:

→ The way she treats the mayor and the druggist

A ROSE FOR EMILY (WILLIAM FAULKNER) 12

→ She is being controlled by her family and the society

A ROSE FOR EMILY (WILLIAM FAULKNER) 13

the father turned his back to her

not only Emily being mad like that

A ROSE FOR EMILY (WILLIAM FAULKNER) 14

A ROSE FOR EMILY (WILLIAM FAULKNER) 15

controlling & overprotective:

minor character (but major role)

A ROSE FOR EMILY (WILLIAM FAULKNER) 16

OLD SOUTH NORTH

old traditions modernity and industrialization