Free Custom «"A Rose for Emily" by William Faulkner» Essay Paper

In "A Rose For Emily", William Faulkner portrayed Emily as a young woman that latter became an obligation. She was kept in the past and kept clinging to all she had even if it was dead. First, she did not want to admit her father's death. Then after she poisoned Homer she kept clinging to his body for some time. Her voice had become dry from not talking to people and her body was a sagging bag. She had become crazy, but no one tried to help her, because they thought greatly of her. For example, after her father's death Colonel Sartoris told her she would not have to pay any taxes in that town and even after the new generation came in it stayed that way. The new mayor tried to get her to pay her taxes but after some time gave up. The reader can also see he power when she goes to the store to buy some rat poison. The guy helping her knows that there is a policy he must follow and must ask what the poison is for. He tries to get some answers before giving her the poison, but gets no where and ends up caving in and giving her the poison. Emily was once a strong woman who with time became falling and falling and that is how the name "Fallen Monument" became about. There is also some irony to the story; Emily being from the south falls in head over heals with a Northern. She even thinks about marry him when back in that time people would not do those kinds of things. She goes off and buys the necessities for the wedding and stores them in a room. This lady thought she was getting married, but Homer was "not a marring man". At the end of the story Faulkner talks about a strand of "iron-gray hair," which belonged to Emily. It was found in the bed next to Homer's rotten body. Throughout time all the town people pity her for being alone in that old home, with only her servant. Wondering if she's all right and how she is taking things. While all this time she has been at home sleeping with Homer's rotten body. Faulkner used some good techniques writing this story. "A Rose for Emily" gets one of my best ratings. All together he creates a story with a good conflict about a woman who can not let go. He show symbolism and irony in the story and puts in some good points. Critic Michael L. Burduck suggest that Faulkner's narrator is a woman because she seems to be concerned with every detail of Emily's life. I believe this is true he also states that the narrator sees to it that Emily's story is not to be forgotten. The main character is Emily Grierson, referred to as Miss Emily throughout the story. This story has many flashbacks and is told in five sections. The story starts with the death of Miss Emily and people going to her funeral. The narrator lets us know that the men where there out of respect and the women showed up to her house out of curiosity. The house is described, as once being white and decorated, "set on what had once been our most select street. "(2) Knowing this we can assume that Emily's origins are of upper-class status, which later leads to issues with her and her father. They soon flashback to when Emily was alive to the old mayor, Colonel Sartoris. He plays an important part in Emily's life in that he after her father dies he remits her taxes "on into perpetuity." (4) Colonel Sartoris knows Emily's father left her with nothing when he died. For that reason, he made up a story to save Emily the embarrassment of accepting charity. ...