Symbolism in A Rose for Emily Essay
Symbolism in literature is using an object to portray a different, deeper meaning in a story. Symbols represent ideas or qualities that the author has maneuvered into his or her story that has meaning. There can be multiple symbols in a story or just one. It is up to the reader to interpret the meaning of the symbols and their significance to the story. While reading a story, symbols may not become clear until the very end, once the climax is over, and the falling action is covered. In William Faulkner's, "A Rose for Emily," there are multiple examples of symbolism that occur throughout the story. Symbolism that "A Rose for Emily" displays is Miss Emily's taxes that represent death. First is the death of her father. The taxes are a...show more content...
The lime that is sprinkled around Miss Emily's house is another symbol in the story. Lime is a white powder that is used to cover the smell of decomposing bodies. The townspeople go to Miss Emily's house to sprinkle lime in her yard when there is complaint about the awful smell emanating from her house. The smell of Homer's rotting corpse eventually stops permeating into the streets, but it is thought that the smell may have become normal to the town. The lime symbolizes a weary attempt to hide information. It is a cover up that symbolizes how the town hides the secrets in that generation (Shmoop 5). Arsenic is a symbol of hiding something that smells, just like lime. When arsenic is used to kill a rat, it creates a stench. The arsenic that Miss Emily uses on Homer Barron's body creates a smell that the townspeople want to get rid of with lime. On Miss Emily's package, the cashier writes "For rats." "Faulkner himself claims that Homer was probably not a nice guy. If Homer is planning to break a promise to marry Emily... she probably considers him a rat" (Shmoop 5). This information leads us to believe that Faulkner approves of the poisoning of Homer Barron (Shmoop 5). In the story, there is no mention of an actual rose, yet the story title is "A Rose for Emily." Another symbol is the rose. In the article, "Symbolism," the author states he or she believes that the title reflects what Faulkner thinks
Not wanting to deal with and accept change seems to be the message that author William Faulkner's short story "A Rose for Emily" is trying to convey. Emily Grierson is the main character in this story, the people of her town feel sorry for her after her father dies. She becomes a loner and does not leave her house. Emily was controlled by her father. He rejected suitors that were interested in marrying her. Now she is all alone, until a new person comes to town. Homer Barron comes to work in the town. Emily is very interested in him, but he does not return the feelings. Emily buys everything that would make it look like they are getting married. The townspeople are wondering if he will marry her. There is talk in the town that...show more content...
This is Miss Emily's craziest try at keeping her life the way it was before her father died. The death of her father was so traumatic for her that she never wanted to lose anything. This story takes place in the South, when there is racial discrimination. The South was very prejudice. "They were admitted by the old Negro into a dim hall from which a stairway mounted into still more shadow" (Faulkner, A Rose for Emily). This use of the offensive word "negro" shows that Mr. Faulkner was trying to show what the life of anAfrican Americanwas during this time. They were just property and by using these words to talk about them, they had no identity. "In 1894 when Colonel Sartoris, the mayor –he who fathered the edict that no Negro woman should appear on the streets without an apron–remitted her taxes, the dispensation dating from the death of her father on into perpetuity" (Faulkner, A Rose for Emily). African Americans were seen as nothing more than workers. They could not socialize with white people, they were just there to serve them.
Mr. Faulkner explains the roles of women in the South and how they were seen through the eyes of men. "When Miss Emily Grierson died the whole town went to her funeral: the men out of respectful affection for a fallen monument and the women mostly out
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Gabi Kuhn 4B 11/13/12 1) What is the point of view of the story? The point of view of the story is a third person. The amount of information the reader knows would be somewhat that of a typical townsperson, since we do not find out right away what is really going on inside of the house, or have a deep view into Miss Emily's feelings. From this point of view, we see things as how they would appear to a townsperson or viewer. 2) What does the title of the story suggest about the townspeople's feelings toward Miss Emily? Why do they feel this way about her?
(Or: What does she represent to them?) Is there anything ironic about their feelings? The title of the story suggests that the townspeople have some sort of caring feeling...show more content...
What other problems has Miss Emily caused the local authorities? The role of the smell incident gives suspicion as to what it is in Miss Emily's house that is causing it. It gives suspicion that it is something like a dead body, because only such things like a dead body can have such a permeating odor able to reach outside. Miss Emily also has not paid the taxes and thinks she is still entitled to the tax waiver that Colonel Sartoris gave to her, even though he is dead. 5) How do the townspeople know what they know about Miss Emily's life? What is the source of their information? The townspeople know what they do about her house from when the Aldermen visited the inside of her house. They were the ones who saw how dusty and creepy it was inside of the Grierson house. They also get the minister's wife to get in contact with her relatives, who then come and visit. They also know most of the information they know by simply keeping track of her and seeing her do the things she does, such as buy the poison, and buy the wedding gifts. They all find out by gossiping and sharing the things they see, especially the older women. 6) Consider the mixed quality of the townspeople's reactions to Miss Emily's "failures". 7) What is the significance of Miss Emily's actions after the death of her father? Miss Emily tried to keep the body of her father with her in her house. This signifies that she did not
Some people love change, but others absolutely dislike it. When something big changes in one's life, will it change who they are, or will they fight back? This short story shows how when a person grows up relying only on one person when they leave, it will change everything about that person. In the southern gothic story "A rose for Emily" by William Faulkner uses characterization, allegory, and allusion display the idea that the toll that death can take on one's life could be drastic.
Characterization showed the true personality of Miss Emily and how her father's death shaped her. The many issues in thisshort story all started at how Miss Emily was raised. She was raised to only rely on her father, who was very protective over her. When...show more content...
We can see that this story makes a lot of indirect references in the text. "I want some poison, the best that you have. I didn't care what kind." (pg.
3) Allusion is shown because it made it seem like she was going to commitsuicide. This is evidence that she most likely killed Homer Barron because he was poorer while her dad wasn't, so she knew that he would never approve, which could've cause her to kill him. This created an allusion in her mind that it was acceptable for her to poison someone because of what her dead father would think.
Characterization, allegory, and allusion all play a large role as to why Miss Emily has attachment issues and is unable to move on from the past and look forward to the future. Though there was no visible or literal rose, it did symbolize Miss Emily and how she started out mentally healthy and then as all the major events took place, it shows how roses fade, along with her mental health. This story is the perfect example to not be too not let the struggles in life overcome Get
In William Faulkner's short story "A Rose for Emily" the story of an eccentric southern aristocrat from the view of the community she lives in. the story opens with the death of the main character, Miss Emily Grierson. Faulkner described Miss Emily's life circumstances through a series of flash backs. Faulkner explains his story is an example of a person having their hopes and aspirations for their life dashed over time, and only later to realize how through poor decision making, they have broken every value and belief they hold, then proceeding to punish themselves indefinitely.
Brooks and Warren begin by approaching the story from the psychological mindset of Miss Emily. They point out without finding the meaning behind Miss Emily's actions, the story is merely a story of abnormal psychology. By being able to understand where the motives came from for Miss Emily's actions the reader is much more able to see that Miss Emily was not just a mentally disturbed individual with no real cause for her condition. The idea that Miss Emily refuses to submit to the group mentality of...show more content...
Fetterley contends that the story is that of a male dominated past and future, and a woman who is oppressed and victimized by her society systems. In life, Miss Emily's father had been able to keep her as a possession and control her life. In his death, the community of Jefferson stepped into that role. Miss Emily was more considered as an object than a person to most everyone her entire life. Fetterley points out the real wrong done to Miss Emily was in making her a "Miss". In the act of making Emily a lady certain characteristics and beliefs are immediately associated with Miss Emily. It is these beliefs of what a lady is and does that allows Miss Emily to murder Homer with poison bought at the drug store without so much as a raised eyebrow. The thought of a lady committing murder never crosses the community's
