A Rose for Emily
“When Miss Emily Grierson died…” is the enigmatic and captivating beginning to William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily.” These words introduce a character and story that immediately capture the reader’s eagerness to know more. “It was a big squarish frame house that had once been white… Only Miss Emily’s house was left” (Faulkner 91). This first description of Emily’s home is our first look at the world she loves in. Throughout “A Rose for Emily” Faulkner uses many facets of the happenings in Emily’s life and history to reveal more about her. Faulkner uses intricate forms of symbolism to quietly tell us about his main character. The title itself gives us an idea that the story could be about expressive romanticism. “We remembered …show more content…
One of the most influential ways that Faulkner conveys the state of Emily’s quickly vanishing world is through his broad depiction of the southern mansion that she calls home. “…decorated with cupolas and spires and scrolled balconies in the heavily lightsome style of the seventies, set on what had once been our most select street” (Faulkner 91). Faulkner paints a beautiful image of a gorgeous southern mansion that is a symbol of the world that it was built in. He uses the mansion as a way to talk about Miss Emily herself, saying what it used to be and how it has fallen so far from its former glory. Using the point of view of the town’s people he also adds “only Miss Emily’s house was left” and “an eyesore among eyesores” to describe how her house fits in with the rest of the town (Faulkner 91). Faulkner is describing her house but clearly alluding to the fact that just like her house, Miss Emily doesn’t fit in anymore, she is a dying relic of a lost age. The last connection she had to the world was her father, who was from an age when the South relied on slave labor, before the Civil
“When Miss Emily Grierson died…” is the enigmatic and captivating beginning to William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily.” These words introduce a character and story that immediately capture the reader’s eagerness to know more. “It was a big squarish frame house that had once been white… Only Miss Emily’s house was left” (Faulkner 91). This first description of Emily’s home is our first look at the world she loves in. Throughout “A Rose for Emily” Faulkner uses many facets of the happenings in Emily’s life and history to reveal more about her. Faulkner uses intricate forms of symbolism to quietly tell us about his main character. The title itself gives us an idea that the story could be about expressive romanticism. “We remembered …show more content…
One of the most influential ways that Faulkner conveys the state of Emily’s quickly vanishing world is through his broad depiction of the southern mansion that she calls home. “…decorated with cupolas and spires and scrolled balconies in the heavily lightsome style of the seventies, set on what had once been our most select street” (Faulkner 91). Faulkner paints a beautiful image of a gorgeous southern mansion that is a symbol of the world that it was built in. He uses the mansion as a way to talk about Miss Emily herself, saying what it used to be and how it has fallen so far from its former glory. Using the point of view of the town’s people he also adds “only Miss Emily’s house was left” and “an eyesore among eyesores” to describe how her house fits in with the rest of the town (Faulkner 91). Faulkner is describing her house but clearly alluding to the fact that just like her house, Miss Emily doesn’t fit in anymore, she is a dying relic of a lost age. The last connection she had to the world was her father, who was from an age when the South relied on slave labor, before the Civil