In William Faulkner’s short story, A Rose For Emily, he discusses many themes and symbols. The main character, Emily Grierson, is used to display the struggle of change while trying to keep old traditions alive. Emily’s house is a perfect symbol of old traditions. The theme of death is also displayed a few different times throughout the story, death seems to just follow Emily throughout her life. At the end, something as simple as a piece of long of gray hair becomes a huge symbol of the story; answering many questions for the community.
Through Emily Grierson, the author tries to convey the struggle of change. Emily herself is a tradition. Over the years, Emily doesn’t overcome much change even though the world around her is changing every …show more content…
She tries to deny death which isn’t surprising since we know she isn’t a big fan of change. She takes the dead bodies of her father and her husband and preserves them, unable to accept the fact that they have died. How she does it, we don’t find out. After a while, the scent of the decaying body escapes the house and members of the community start to notice the horrible smell. It seemed as if people were scared to encounter Emily. When the four men went to Emily’s house to sprinkle the lime, they went when it was dark out, at midnight. Probably because that’s when they knew she’d be sleeping so they would have less of a chance of being noticed. When the four men were leaving her house, Emily saw them and stood peering out the window. The men “crept quietly across the lawn and into the shadow of the locusts that lined the street (Faulkner 80).” This also makes me think they didn’t want to be seen by her for some reason because it says they “crept quietly across the lawn” and hid behind the tree. The author also refers to Emily herself as a theme of death.
Her skeleton was small and spare… She looked bloated, like a body submerged in motionless water, and of that pallid hue. Her eyes, lost in the fatty ridges on her face, looked like two small pieces of coal pressed into a lump of dough as they moved from one face to another (Faulkner …show more content…
Mallard was told by her sister Josephine that her husband Brently was killed in a train accident. Of course, at first, she was upset by this, but over time she realized that maybe it wasn’t so bad that he’s gone, in fact, it might be better. Being alone makes Louise realize that she has now regained her independence; something that she felt like she lost while being married. “But she saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely. And she opened and spread her arms out to them in welcome (Chopin 16). By the end of the story, Brently returns home. Louise then comes to realize that he was never killed in a train accident; taking that independance that she loved so much, away. Giving up her freedom once again is enough to kill her. Chopin says that even in the best of marriages, you have to give up some of your
Through Emily Grierson, the author tries to convey the struggle of change. Emily herself is a tradition. Over the years, Emily doesn’t overcome much change even though the world around her is changing every …show more content…
She tries to deny death which isn’t surprising since we know she isn’t a big fan of change. She takes the dead bodies of her father and her husband and preserves them, unable to accept the fact that they have died. How she does it, we don’t find out. After a while, the scent of the decaying body escapes the house and members of the community start to notice the horrible smell. It seemed as if people were scared to encounter Emily. When the four men went to Emily’s house to sprinkle the lime, they went when it was dark out, at midnight. Probably because that’s when they knew she’d be sleeping so they would have less of a chance of being noticed. When the four men were leaving her house, Emily saw them and stood peering out the window. The men “crept quietly across the lawn and into the shadow of the locusts that lined the street (Faulkner 80).” This also makes me think they didn’t want to be seen by her for some reason because it says they “crept quietly across the lawn” and hid behind the tree. The author also refers to Emily herself as a theme of death.
Her skeleton was small and spare… She looked bloated, like a body submerged in motionless water, and of that pallid hue. Her eyes, lost in the fatty ridges on her face, looked like two small pieces of coal pressed into a lump of dough as they moved from one face to another (Faulkner …show more content…
Mallard was told by her sister Josephine that her husband Brently was killed in a train accident. Of course, at first, she was upset by this, but over time she realized that maybe it wasn’t so bad that he’s gone, in fact, it might be better. Being alone makes Louise realize that she has now regained her independence; something that she felt like she lost while being married. “But she saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely. And she opened and spread her arms out to them in welcome (Chopin 16). By the end of the story, Brently returns home. Louise then comes to realize that he was never killed in a train accident; taking that independance that she loved so much, away. Giving up her freedom once again is enough to kill her. Chopin says that even in the best of marriages, you have to give up some of your