Analysis for “a Rose for Emily”

Aeriel Lane

Aug 30, 2015

ENGL 112

Makamson

Analysis for “A Rose for Emily”

        In the short story “A Rose for Emily”, William Faulkner created Emily as a “lonely person who wanted to be happy and loved by people around her” (Smith) but was trapped by isolation. Emily could be described and characterized in many different ways to further understand the story and why she had a dead body in her house. Throughout the story “the reader, like the townspeople in the story, [are] left wondering” (Mohsin) how she could have spent so long with a corpse and why. To understand the reason why one must go back and analyze Emily’s character. She was not only an unfortunate yet traditional living person, but she was also a stubborn lonely old lady, which caused her to sleep with a corpse.

        Even though most traditions are still present, Miss Emily Grierson was seen by all the towns’ people of the time as an old rooted person who taught “china painting lessons eight to ten years earlier” (300). An example of keeping her old ways was her refusal for a mailbox with metal numbers on it. A symbol that was also used in the story that can help the reader define her as an old traditional character is her house. Her house was one of the best in the town, but as the years went by it slowly became an “eyesore among eyesores”(298); not well furnished like the other houses and as time went on it had a smell that nobody could explain. Once the reader takes all of this into consideration it can be inferred that because of her ego “she wanted to stay as same as before” (Mohsin).

        In the same manner, Emily can be seen as an unfortunate woman. She used to live with a dominating father who controlled everything in her life. Her father was “rigid in reinforcing” the traditions of generations before; he “drove all of [her] suitors away” (302) because he did not think they were good enough for her. After he died she fell into depression until she fell in love with Homer Barron. She did not want to lose him and so asked him to marry her. After Barron refused her proposal she was hardly ever seen. With this stir of events, the gossip started within the towns’ people as they felt sorry for her and started talking about her fate as her unhappiness fed their pity towards her. By repressing this sorrow and anger towards her treatment from her father, her superego is shown. With all of the frustration, anger and sorrow inside of her the only way she could let it out was to dominate something/someone herself, in this case, a dead body.

        Even though the whole town felt pity towards her and her unfortunate life they did nothing to help her emotionally. Emily was mentally and physically alone; isolated from the world. Her family was well known to the town, but after her father died people rarely saw her and this was the start of her isolation. Being isolated from the world no matter how sane someone is to begin with can in time cause mental problems, as was seen in “The Yellow Wallpaper”. As well as being a lonely character though she was stubborn. The taxes was one proof of her stubbornness, but again the house she lived in was described as “stubborn and coquettish decay” (299). Looking at these events and connecting them to an explanation, they can help describe her situation as one who was contained and repressed. From not being allowed to do anything because of her father, now she has a say in everything and can do anything.