A Rose For Emily Title Analysis

In William Faulkner 's "A Rose for Emily," Faulkner tells a story about a woman named Miss Emily Grierson who struggles with living in Calvary, or constant suffering, as she is unable to accept change. The title is symbolic of this as a rose is normally given at a funeral for a loved one and Emily received her rose at birth. Emily has been dying to the world her entire life as she either chooses to or is unable to assimilate or accommodate to life. The story begins and ends with death: the narrator informing the reader that the main character, Miss Emily, has passed away at the beginning and the death of Homer Barron at the end. Miss Emily was afraid of change as she refused to accept that he father was dead, as Faulkner tells us "Miss Emily met them at the door, dressed as usual and with no trace of grief on her face. She told them that her father was not dead" (Faulkner 302). Emily is living a grief stricken life, choosing to not accept the death of her father and not dealing with the trauma since she kept …show more content…
Faulkner concludes the story by sharing with us the death of Homer Barron to reiterate the fact that Emily is unable to accept change and a reminder that Emily is content with living in suffering, as she had her entire life. Faulkner reminds us of this concept of Emily 's life in Calvary when he states that "A thin, acrid pall as of the tomb seemed to lie everywhere upon this room…" (Faulkner 306). The tomb that Faulkner writes of is symbolic of the tomb that Christ was in after his crucifixion. The acrid pall is from the stench of the corpse that has been in that room. The smell of the decaying body permeated the