Literary Analysis- “A Rose For Emily”

 


By Leah

🥀 “A Rose For Emily” 🥀 

"A Rose For Emily," written by William Faulkner tells the story of a mysterious woman, in a small town. Throughout the passage, the theme of isolation is highlighted, and greatly emphasized through the careful use of syntax and diction. Read the excerpt from my essay below to see how this is demonstrated in the text: 

    Miss Emily’s firm attachment to her home provides understanding to the reader by highlighting themes of solitariness as well as confinement.  This may be demonstrated when Emily composes a letter in response to the sheriff, regarding meeting with him to discuss her taxes. She simply responded with a letter, which informed the sheriff she would not be leaving her home. The narrator emphasizes this when stating, “A week later the mayor wrote to her himself, offering to call or send his car for her, and received in reply a note on paper of an archaic shape, in a thin, flowing calligraphy in faded ink, to the effect that she no longer went out at all.” Emily’s refusal to leave her precious, rotting home illustrates her tight grip on what no longer can be attained, the past, her father. The selective and purposeful word choice forms a vivid picture of the letter the mayor received in reply regarding her lack of paying taxes. The suspicious, “archaic” paper with “faded ink” leads the reader to infer Emily truly stays in her home at all times, not even writing to her family and acquaintances, losing her grip on herself.

My Interpretation

Although I was not able to opinionate on the short story throughout my essay, I would like to provide my take on the passage, much like my peer Alexandria did. 

As I read the dark, gothic fiction short story, I wondered, and I pondered the purpose of using symbols such as the Grierson home, or the faded ink letter, to emphasize the main theme. I noticed the house deteriorated along with Miss Emily, and the image that the town had of her, who they believed her to be. The faded ink truly proved to me to a greater extent just how attached Emily is to her rotting house. Not only did the contents of the letter highlight the way she viewed leaving her home, but the fact she did not go out to purchase a new pen, or more ink, surprised me. 

In addition, the fact Emily did not leave her home may have been linked to the fact she had a corpse lying next to her in her bed. Perhaps she was afraid while she was gone someone might come over, or she may have felt guilty leaving Homer Barron's body all alone in the home with no one else but Tobe, the servant. 

Woman in Mourning clothes, likely similar to Emily's clothing





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