William Faulkner's A Rose For Emily

William Faulkner’s short story, “A Rose for Emily,” evokes the terms of grotesque and Southern Gothic with its misery, terror, and restrained violence. The main character, Miss Emily Grierson, is a dignified woman that is highly respected in her community. After her controlling father dies, Miss Emily refuses to acknowledge his death. According to Charmaine Allmon Mosby’s “A Rose for Emily,” this is due to a “mysterious illness.” When Emily is seen with a Northern day laborer named Homer Barron, the town of Jefferson becomes skeptical of their relationship. But over time, they come to accept Mr. Barron and considers him a necessity. After his sudden disappearance, the townspeople believe that he left her because he was gay. It was …show more content…
When Faulkner addresses his characters, he appears to be using them to symbolize the larger issues the South was facing during the turn of the Twentieth century. Through Emily Grierson, Faulkner expresses the struggle that comes from trying to maintain tradition in the face of widespread, radical change. Jefferson is a town that is embracing a modern future, yet is still hovering on the edge of the past much like the South was at this time. Despite the changes in her community, Miss Emily constantly remains the unchanged. She is in some ways considered a burden to the town. William Faulkner uses “A Rose for Emily” to observe how the South, during its own uncertainty, denies to embrace the inevitability of social and historical change. If the South does not adapt to these changes, it will die a lonely death, like Miss …show more content…
After several residents of Jefferson complains to the 80-year-old mayor about Miss Grierson’s house having an odor, the one young councilman says that they should simply tell her. The mayor responds by asking him, “... will you accuse a lady to her face of smelling bad?” (Faulkner par. 24.) The young councilman represents how the New South is inserting itself into the Old American South’s common tradition of southern hospitality. The town perceived Miss Emily’s house as a “once an elegant mansion” that has become a decaying eyesore in the middle of a neighborhood that has changed from residential to industrial (Mosby par. 11.) This shows how the town of Jefferson has transitioned from a rural society, the Old South, to an urban industrialized society, the New South. The cotton gin near Miss Emily’s house connects this transition, as it combines the cotton culture of the South with the developing urban New