The short story selected for analysis is A Rose for Emily (1930) written by a renowned American author William Faulkner. Faulkner has written numerous novels and short stories most of which are based on the division between the white people and the black folks. The main theme in Faulkner’s stories centers on the decline of the aristocratic class in the South and the emancipation of the slaves. The story taken for analysis is considered to be Faulkner’s first ever published literary work. The current paper analyzes the selected short story with the purpose of understanding the themes embedded in the narrative.
Before delving into the analysis of the selected story, a brief overview will be given. Faulkner’s selected short story is set in Jefferson, Mississippi which is part of a southern country. It should be noted that the setting is imaginary and was only created to fit the narrative. The narrative of the short story has been divided into five parts. As the story begins, the narrator tells the readers about the funeral of Miss Emily Grierson, who was an elderly Southern woman. The funeral is held as an obligation on the part of the townsfolk of Jefferson. The scene then proceeds to Miss Emily’s behavior towards her community when she reproached by the elders of the town on the subject of paying taxes. Miss Emily refuses to pay her taxes and tells the gentlemen to consult Colonel Sartoris who she claims had exempted Emily from ever having to pay taxes. In the next four parts, the narrator shifts through the life of Emily provides flashbacks of how the townspeople felt towards Miss Emily during different instances. The changing times brought changes in Miss Emily and the death of her father and that of Homer Baron left a deep impact on her.
Moving on to the analysis portion, the title of the story is significant as it hints at the author sympathizing with Emily. The activities carried out by Emily after the death of her father shows that her sanity was wavering. The anonymous narrator leaves a gap for ambiguity and makes the reader wonder who the narrator really is and whether he is related to the protagonist (Nebeker). The rose also signifies the traditions of the Old South and hints at the element of romanticism. Women during Faulkner’s time carried flower as a token of love and intimacy which is why Faulkner has mentioned a rose in the title (Kurtz). It should be noted that themes play an important role in the development of any literary work. One of the major theme found in the selected short story is that of death. The death in this context does not only imply the passing away of an individual rather hints at the deteriorating condition of the South. The story begins with the death of Miss Emily, as the narrator says in the following lines,
“When Miss Emily Grierson died, our whole town went to her funeral…” (Faulkner et al.)
Around 1930’s, a shift was taking place and the old ways were being replaced by industrialization which is one of the traits of modernization. The death of the traditional ways makes space for new values and beliefs to the surface and this aspect can be related with John Keats’ poem To Autumn which also points towards the concept of the life and death. In the poem, though the surface meaning is that of the seasons that come and go and each brings with it changes such as fertility and decay, the deeper meaning reflects the cycle of life and death (Keats). In the poem, the season of Autumn as marked as a harbinger of death and decay in which all the fields lay bare. Keats pointed at the bareness of lands when Autumn appears and the sense of loss that it brings with it is apparent from the surroundings. However, as soon as the season of Autumn, the poet adds that songs can be heard and fertility can be seen once again. The fertility in the poem can be associated with the changing times in the short story, in which the old ways were being discarded and people were embracing the modern ways.
Similarly, in the short story, Faulkner hints at the emergence of modernity that led to people discarding the traditional values that they had held so close for generations. In the case of Miss Emily, she is seen to have been the center of criticism when she shows interest in a black guy by the name of Homer Baron who is one of the workers called for the purpose of construction in Jefferson. However, Miss Emily’s interest in a black guy enrages the townsfolk and remind her that she has forgotten the old Southern ways which her family had taken pride in. The death of Emily’s father leaves a lasting impact on her as she had always been controlled by her father and his absence suddenly strikes her and she begins acting strangely by first denying that her father isn’t dead. Emily refuses to hand her father’s body over to the town’s people at first but after three days, the townsfolk are successful in persuading Emily to have her father buried.
In addition to the death of her father, Emily’s involvement with another man shows that being freed from the control of one man led Emily to enjoy her new found freedom which became a source of gossip in the town. However, Emily decides to marry Homer but soon after is found buying arsenic. Homer is nowhere to be seen and it is presumed that he ran away. At the end of the story when Emily’s dead body is retrieved, the sealed door is broken down and Homer’s body is also found. While the context of Homer’s death is dark, Emily’s preservation of the body and the evidence of her having to lie next to the dead body hints at necrophilia. The way Homer has been killed and then preserved is horrifying (Blythe). The decaying of Homer’s body can be related to the decay mentioned in Keats’ To Autumn in which the end of the harvest leaves the fields bare and reflects a sense of loss. Homer’s character can be seen as an obstacle between the Southern ways and Emily as she abandons her ideologies when she becomes infatuated with Homer (Dilworth).
In conclusion, Faulkner utilized dark elements in the selected story to reflect the deteriorating situation of the Old South. The changing times brought with them the change in the laws and an end to slavery. The previously held notions that a white woman could not form any relationship with a black man was challenged as in the story Miss Emily involves herself in an affair with Homer Baron. Her acceptance of the black man as her lover shows that she too was on the brink of abandoning her traditions and values. However, the townsfolk were able to remind her where her duty lied and she killed Homer.
The short story was selected as it depicts the attitudes of the South towards people of color as well as its decadence. The old values were on the brink of being replaced and people like those belonging to the imaginary town of Jefferson were clinging onto the traditional ways in hopes that they might save it from being crushed under the wave of modernity. The death of both old ways and that of the aristocratic class relates to the theme of decay in Keats’ poem Ode to Autumn in which the end of the harvest shows a sense of loss.
Works Cited
Blythe, Hal. “Faulkner’s a Rose for Emily.” The Explicator, vol. 47, no. 2, 1989, pp. 49–50.
Dilworth, Thomas. “A Romance to Kill for Homicidal Complicity in Faulkner’s” A Rose for Emily”.” Studies in Short Fiction, vol. 36, no. 3, 1999, p. 251.
Faulkner, William, et al. A Rose for Emily. Verlag F. Schöningh Paderborn, De, 1958.
Keats, John. “Ode to Autumn.” Verse for You: A Collection of Verse for Senior Forms, 2010.
Kurtz, Elizabeth Carney. “Faulkner’s A Rose for Emily.” Explicator, vol. 44, no. 2, 1986, p. 40.
Nebeker, Helen E. “Emily’s Rose of Love: Thematic Implications of Point of View in Faulkner’s” A Rose for Emily”.” Bulletin of the Rocky Mountain Modern Language Association, vol. 24, no. 1, 1970, pp. 3–13.
Annotated Bibliography
Blythe, Hal. “Faulkner’s a Rose for Emily.” The Explicator, vol. 47, no. 2, 1989, pp. 49–50.
In the article, Blythe discusses an aspect of Faulkner’s short story which gives the story a gory context. The author highlights the fact that the preservation of Homer’s body is not as frightening as the way in which he has been killed invokes horror in the readers.
Dilworth, Thomas. “A Romance to Kill for Homicidal Complicity in Faulkner’s” A Rose for Emily”.” Studies in Short Fiction, vol. 36, no. 3, 1999, p. 251.
The author focuses on the character of Homer Barron, who is a black worker and has arrived in the town of Jefferson to work on a construction site. Homer is seen as a rival by the Southern townsfolk as well as an obstacle in the way of Southern values. Emily abandons her traditional values when she involves herself with Homer.
Kurtz, Elizabeth Carney. “Faulkner’s A Rose for Emily.” Explicator, vol. 44, no. 2, 1986, p. 40.
In this article, the author talks about the relevance of the rose in the title of Faulkner’s short story A Rose for Emily as women of the past seldom received a flower as a symbol of love and intimacy. The title refers to Faulkner sympathizing with Emily for the deeds that she committed.
Nebeker, Helen E. “Emily’s Rose of Love: Thematic Implications of Point of View in Faulkner’s” A Rose for Emily”.” Bulletin of the Rocky Mountain Modern Language Association, vol. 24, no. 1, 1970, pp. 3–13.
