William Faulkner's 'A Rose for Emily' explores the use of symbolism to reveal deeper meanings, particularly through objects like taxes, lime, and arsenic, which reflect themes of death and the town's secrets. The main character, Miss Emily Grierson, represents change resistance and the effects of societal constraints, as her father's death leaves her isolated and unable to move on. The story critiques gender roles and the oppressive nature of society, illustrating how Miss Emily becomes a victim of both her upbringing and community expectations.

1. Symbolism in A Rose for Emily Essay
Symbolism in literature is using an object to portray a different, deeper meaning in a story.
Symbols represent ideas or qualities that the author has maneuvered into his or her story that has
meaning. There can be multiple symbols in a story or just one. It is up to the reader to interpret
the meaning of the symbols and their significance to the story. While reading a story, symbols may
not become clear until the very end, once the climax is over, and the falling action is covered. In
William Faulkner's, "A Rose for Emily," there are multiple examples of symbolism that occur
throughout the story. Symbolism that "A Rose for Emily" displays is Miss Emily's taxes that
represent death. First is the death of her father. The taxes are a...show more content...
The lime that is sprinkled around Miss Emily's house is another symbol in the story. Lime is a white
powder that is used to cover the smell of decomposing bodies. The townspeople go to Miss
Emily's house to sprinkle lime in her yard when there is complaint about the awful smell
emanating from her house. The smell of Homer's rotting corpse eventually stops permeating into
the streets, but it is thought that the smell may have become normal to the town. The lime
symbolizes a weary attempt to hide information. It is a cover up that symbolizes how the town
hides the secrets in that generation (Shmoop 5). Arsenic is a symbol of hiding something that
smells, just like lime. When arsenic is used to kill a rat, it creates a stench. The arsenic that Miss
Emily uses on Homer Barron's body creates a smell that the townspeople want to get rid of with
lime. On Miss Emily's package, the cashier writes "For rats." "Faulkner himself claims that
Homer was probably not a nice guy. If Homer is planning to break a promise to marry Emily... she
probably considers him a rat" (Shmoop 5). This information leads us to believe that Faulkner
approves of the poisoning of Homer Barron (Shmoop 5). In the story, there is no mention of an
actual rose, yet the story title is "A Rose for Emily." Another symbol is the rose. In the article,
"Symbolism," the author states he or she believes that the title reflects what Faulkner thinks
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2. A Rose For Emily Analysis
Not wanting to deal with and accept change seems to be the message that author William
Faulkner's short story "A Rose for Emily" is trying to convey. Emily Grierson is the main
character in this story, the people of her town feel sorry for her after her father dies. She becomes
a loner and does not leave her house. Emily was controlled by her father. He rejected suitors that
were interested in marrying her. Now she is all alone, until a new person comes to town. Homer
Barron comes to work in the town. Emily is very interested in him, but he does not return the
feelings. Emily buys everything that would make it look like they are getting married. The
townspeople are wondering if he will marry her. There is talk in the town that...show more content...
This is Miss Emily's craziest try at keeping her life the way it was before her father died. The death
of her father was so traumatic for her that she never wanted to lose anything.
This story takes place in the South, when there is racial discrimination. The South was very
prejudice. "They were admitted by the old Negro into a dim hall from which a stairway mounted
into still more shadow" (Faulkner, A Rose for Emily). This use of the offensive word "negro"
shows that Mr. Faulkner was trying to show what the life of an African American was during this
time. They were just property and by using these words to talk about them, they had no identity. "In
1894 when Colonel Sartoris, the mayor –he who fathered the edict that no Negro woman should
appear on the streets without an apron–remitted her taxes, the dispensation dating from the death of
her father on into perpetuity" (Faulkner, A Rose for Emily). African Americans were seen as nothing
more than workers. They could not socialize with white people, they were just there to serve them.
Mr. Faulkner explains the roles of women in the South and how they were seen through the eyes of
men. "When Miss Emily Grierson died the whole town went to her funeral: the men out of respectful
affection for a fallen monument and the women mostly out
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3. A Rose for Emily Analysis Essay
Gabi Kuhn 4B 11/13/12 1) What is the point of view of the story? The point of view of the story
is a third person. The amount of information the reader knows would be somewhat that of a
typical townsperson, since we do not find out right away what is really going on inside of the
house, or have a deep view into Miss Emily's feelings. From this point of view, we see things as
how they would appear to a townsperson or viewer. 2) What does the title of the story suggest
about the townspeople's feelings toward Miss Emily? Why do they feel this way about her? (Or:
What does she represent to them?) Is there anything ironic about their feelings? The title of the story
suggests that the townspeople have some sort of caring feeling...show more content...
What other problems has Miss Emily caused the local authorities? The role of the smell incident
gives suspicion as to what it is in Miss Emily's house that is causing it. It gives suspicion that it is
something like a dead body, because only such things like a dead body can have such a
permeating odor able to reach outside. Miss Emily also has not paid the taxes and thinks she is
still entitled to the tax waiver that Colonel Sartoris gave to her, even though he is dead. 5) How
do the townspeople know what they know about Miss Emily's life? What is the source of their
information? The townspeople know what they do about her house from when the Aldermen
visited the inside of her house. They were the ones who saw how dusty and creepy it was inside
of the Grierson house. They also get the minister's wife to get in contact with her relatives, who
then come and visit. They also know most of the information they know by simply keeping track
of her and seeing her do the things she does, such as buy the poison, and buy the wedding gifts.
They all find out by gossiping and sharing the things they see, especially the older women. 6)
Consider the mixed quality of the townspeople's reactions to Miss Emily's "failures". 7) What is
the significance of Miss Emily's actions after the death of her father? Miss Emily tried to keep the
body of her father with her in her house. This signifies that she did not
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4. Allegory In A Rose For Emily
Some people love change, but others absolutely dislike it. When something big changes in one's
life, will it change who they are, or will they fight back? This short story shows how when a person
grows up relying only on one person when they leave, it will change everything about that person. In
the southern gothic story "A rose for Emily" by William Faulkner uses characterization, allegory, and
allusion display the idea that the toll that death can take on one's life could be drastic.
Characterization showed the true personality of Miss Emily and how her father's death shaped her.
The many issues in this short story all started at how Miss Emily was raised. She was raised to only
rely on her father, who was very protective over her. When...show more content...
We can see that this story makes a lot of indirect references in the text. "I want some poison, the
best that you have. I didn't care what kind." (pg. 3) Allusion is shown because it made it seem like
she was going to commit suicide. This is evidence that she most likely killed Homer Barron
because he was poorer while her dad wasn't, so she knew that he would never approve, which
could've cause her to kill him. This created an allusion in her mind that it was acceptable for her to
poison someone because of what her dead father would think.
Characterization, allegory, and allusion all play a large role as to why Miss Emily has attachment
issues and is unable to move on from the past and look forward to the future. Though there was no
visible or literal rose, it did symbolize Miss Emily and how she started out mentally healthy and
then as all the major events took place, it shows how roses fade, along with her mental health. This
story is the perfect example to not be too not let the struggles in life overcome
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5. Rose For Emily
In William Faulkner's short story "A Rose for Emily" the story of an eccentric southern aristocrat
from the view of the community she lives in. the story opens with the death of the main character,
Miss Emily Grierson. Faulkner described Miss Emily's life circumstances through a series of flash
backs. Faulkner explains his story is an example of a person having their hopes and aspirations for
their life dashed over time, and only later to realize how through poor decision making, they have
broken every value and belief they hold, then proceeding to punish themselves indefinitely.
Brooks and Warren begin by approaching the story from the psychological mindset of Miss Emily.
They point out without finding the meaning behind Miss Emily's actions, the story is merely a
story of abnormal psychology. By being able to understand where the motives came from for Miss
Emily's actions the reader is much more able to see that Miss Emily was not just a mentally
disturbed individual with no real cause for her condition. The idea that Miss Emily refuses to submit
to the group mentality of...show more content...
Fetterley contends that the story is that of a male dominated past and future, and a woman who is
oppressed and victimized by her society systems. In life, Miss Emily's father had been able to keep
her as a possession and control her life. In his death, the community of Jefferson stepped into that
role. Miss Emily was more considered as an object than a person to most everyone her entire life.
Fetterley points out the real wrong done to Miss Emily was in making her a "Miss". In the act of
making Emily a lady certain characteristics and beliefs are immediately associated with Miss
Emily. It is these beliefs of what a lady is and does that allows Miss Emily to murder Homer with
poison bought at the drug store without so much as a raised eyebrow. The thought of a lady
committing murder never crosses the community's
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