Rose For Emily Essay, Research Paper

Thesis: As any reader can see, ?A Rose for Emily? is one of the most

authentic short stories by Faulkner. His use of characterization, narration,

foreshadowing, and symbolism are four key factors to why Faulkner?s work is

idealistic to all readers. Introduction Short biographical description. William

Faulkner ?A Rose for Emily? Characterization Emily as the protagonist. The

townspeople. Comparison to Mrs. Havisham. Narration Narrator as an observer.

Effects on story. Effects on reader. Point of View. Importance of narrator.

Foreshadowing Homer Barron. Mood. Effects of foreshadowing in story. Symbolism

Emily. ?Rose? in title. Other characters in story. Conclusion The works of

William Faulkner have had positive effects on readers throughout his career.

Local legends and gossip trigger the main focus of his stories. Considering that

Faulkner grew up in Mississippi, he was very familiar with the ways of the

South. This award winning author has been praised by many critics for his

ability and unique style of writing. One of Faulkner?s most popular works,

which also was his first short story nationally published in 1930, ?A Rose for

Emily? is one of the most authentic short stories by Faulkner (Pierce 849). By

writing about the political and social ways of the South, Faulkner was able to

create an illusion of the New south as being what we know today as mainstream

America. His use of characterization, narration, foreshadowing, and symbolism

are four key factors to why Faulkner?s work is idealistic to all readers. The

use of characterization in ?A Rose for Emily? is clearly important to the

story. It is obvious to all readers that Miss Emily Grierson is the protagonist,

or the principal character. According to a prominent critic, Elizabeth Sabiston,

Emily is a gothic character (142). Sabiston is referring to Emily that way

because of the fact that she slept with the skeleton of her lover for forty

years. Miss Emily added a mystical tone the mood of the story due to her

incapability of being able to live in reality (Watson 180). She was awfully

stubborn to the townspeople. This stubbornness also ties in with Emily?s

ability to live in reality. After she refuses to Nichols 2 pay her taxes,

directly to the mayor, she tells them to go and see Colonel Satoris, who has

been dead for ten years. This portrays that Emily?s illusion of reality was

greatly distorted (Brooks and Warren 158). Arthur Voss, a notable critic

compares Miss Emily Grierson to the outstanding Mrs. Havisham of the famous

story by Dickens, ?Great Expectations.? Both are motivated by their lovers,

isolate themselves in old decaying houses, and refuse to recognize that time has

passed. Both characters are proud, disdainful, and independent (Voss 249). This

comparison shows the importance of characterization. Without these characters,

the story would be radically changed. By understanding Emily, the reader may get

a clearer view of the actions that go on during the story (West 149). Several

other characters in ?A Rose for Emily? are set in opposition to Emily.

Faulkner?s use of characterization proves to be positive way to exemplify the

readers? feelings about certain characters and the tribulations they

experience. Another prime example of Faulkner?s effective writing is his use

of narration. Of course, in most stories the narrator is a key asset. In ? A

Rose for Emily? Faulkner uses the narrator not only as a story teller, but as

an observer from the crowd as well. The narrator?s point of view, which is

third person, had a positive effect on the way a reader views the story (Lee

47). Through out the story the narrator uses ?we? instead of ?I?,

revealing to us the way the townspeople judge Emily. The narrator thinks back in

time throughout the story remembering particular events that occurred in past

time. Nichols 3 This is important to the reader in that it helps aid the

understanding of how the townspeople viewed Emily. The narrator also reveals to

the reader that there was once a very distorted view of ideas in the Old South.

After revealing these views, he confronts the fact that most of these views were

terribly wrong (Watson 180). If the story had been narrated by anyone else, it

may not have been as easy for the reader to completely understand. With this

spectator as the narrator, describing the events of the story through his eyes,

one can detect a general impression of Emily (Madden 1987). The view of the

narrator is beneficial in understanding the things that Emily goes through.

Also, towards the end of the story the narrator gives the reader a feeling of

sorrow and pity for Emily (Lee 48). It is apparent that Faulkner?s use of

narration enhances and clarifies the stories effectiveness. Another example of

Faulkner?s unprecedented style is his use of foreshadowing. By using this

technique, Faulkner forces the reader to notice or feel the intensity of the

feeling s and sights given off by the story. An artistic nature is vividly

exhibited by the use of foreshadowing (Madden 1989). A prime example of this is

Homer Barron, who is Miss Emily?s lover. Homer is casually mentioned at first,

and he seems to have little or no significance to the story?s direct meaning

(Phillips 452). However after looking back over the story, the reader can see

that homer did display an important role in the theme of the story. The theme of

Emily Nichols 4 being unhappy and basically leading a sheltered life foreshadows

that Faulkner was bringing across that it was wrong for the townspeople to

gossip and assume things about Emily (Pierce 852). By using Homer as the

antagonist , one can see that because he had disagreed with Emily and was going

to quit her as her father did, the unhappiness drove her to committing murder.

Faulkner also used the mood as a foreshadowing tool. Instead of the mood

developing as a result of the story, the story actually develops as a result of

the mood. This throws the reader off a bit considering that this occurrence is

rare (Seyppel 73). The type of foreshadowing that Faulkner uses represents the

past and present generations and how they have progressed. As the generations

progressed in the story, Miss Emily still represented and stood for the beliefs

of the Old South while the New south generation stood back and allowed her to

bask in this illusion (Madden 1986). One final example of Faulkner?s

intellectual writing is his ability to incorporate symbolism into his writing.

In ?A Rose for Emily? Miss Emily actually symbolized a remembrance of values

and sins of the townspeople?s fathers in past generations. Some considered

Miss Emily a decadent and perverse relic of the South?s ante-bellum past

(Pierce 849). Miss Emily was definitely a complex character in that her

character stood for the beliefs that she believed from the Old South. In the

title ? A Rose for Emily? many have ask ? What does the rose stand for??

According to the distinguished critic David Madden, ?the rose is a symbol of

the age of romance in Nichols 5 which the aristocracy were obsessed with

delusions of grandeur, pure women being a symbol of the ideal in every phase of

life.? In other words, the story is ,in a way, a ?rose? to Miss Emily for

standing up for the things that she believed and died believing them (Pierce

849). Other characters also symbolized other things in the story. Colonel

Satoris, the old Negro servant, and the older generation of the Board of

Alderman symbolized the Old South. The unnamed narrator, the new generation of

the Board of Alderman, and the attitude of Homer Barron toward the Grierson?s

and the Old South symbolized the feelings of the New South (West 148). Most

people will agree that William Faulkner?s ?A Rose for Emily? has an effect

on those who read it. An entire novel could be written from this single short

story due to the fact that it had so many components intertwined within (Madden

1989). Through the use of characterization, narration, foreshadowing, and

symbolism, the reader will gather a clearer understanding of the point that

Faulkner is trying to get across. The point that Faulkner is trying to get

across is that gossip is not always true, and that no one should attempt to base

facts on what they hear from word of mouth. Finally, the effect of ? A Rose

for Emily? is one that is positive and enjoyable. ? A Rose for Emily? is

and will continue to be a definite success in the works of William Faulkner. The

story has been enjoyed by many readers and sure to be enjoyed by many others who

will read it in further generations yet to come.

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II; Short Story Series (Pasadena: Salem Press, 1986), 1986-1989. Phillips, Loise.

?Answering Faulkner,? America: 160 (1989): 452-453. Pierce, Constance.

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1989. Seyppel, Joachin. William Faulkner. NewYork: Frederick Ungar Publishing

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Press: 1975. Watson, Jay. Forensic Fictions: The Lawyer Figure in Faulkner,

(Athens: The University of Georgia Press, 1993). West, Ray B. Jr. Short Story

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