A Rose for Emily Analysis

пїЅA Rose for Emily" is a mysterious short story written by William Faulkner. He uses many techniques to enhance the story's mysterious setting, such as foreshadowing and an out-of-order time sequence to alter the mood and perception of the story.

The setting of Faulkner's story is very similar to that of his own in his adolescent years. The time is shortly after the Civil War, early 1900's, and the setting is definitely in a Southern atmosphere. Faulkner might have written the story to portray a piece his own life, or simply to provide an audience with a good story of his writing style, mysterious and suspenseful yet yearning for sympathy. Yet another reason could have been to make a point about clinging to the past. He shows in this story that not letting go and moving on after a death, or any traumatic event, will lead to misery and eventually destruction. People should accept the changes that they are dealt in their game of life. He might have written the story for a combination of those reasons.

Faulkner threw in very subtle hints of foreshadowing that most likely would not be noticed on a first-time-through read, such as the word "bloated" to symbolize death, and "arsenic" to also imply an upcoming death. When first reading the story, one does not know who exactly is going to be killed. Some make the assumption that Emily is planning to kill herself, but they receive the surprise of a murder in the end.

Faulkner was also successful in portraying the setting that he wrote about, probably because he was from a setting with so many similarities. He demonstrates the customs of the time, such as holding an old noble family high in rank. The distinct, unsociable relationships between blacks and whites, rich and poor, and Southerners and Northerners are shown throughout the story as well.

There are two characters in this story described opposite to each other. They are Miss Emily and Mr. Homer. Miss Emily is described as a short, fat, aged and mysterious woman. She is very stubborn lady and very hard to change; Miss Emily refuses modern change into her desolate life; for example, she refuses to allow attaching numbers on her door and a mailbox for free mail service. All her attitude is a result of her fatherпїЅs over-controlling her when she was very young. On the other hand, Homer is " a Yankee- a big dark, ready man, with big voice and eyes lighter the his faceпїЅ (4).

Miss Emily is a representative of someone who lives in the South and could not accept the fact that the North takes over the South after Civil War. "When the Negro opened the blinds of one window, they could see that the leather was cracked; and when they sat down, a faint dust rose sluggishly about their things, spinning with slow motes in the single sun ray" (1) is example of the way things were pre-civil war. Emily's house with all old things represents the Old south, which has to face to a new modern generation.

The plot of this story is mainly about Miss Emily's attitude. Miss Emily lives in the modern society