“A Rose for Emily” William Faulkner

The Setting -- Jefferson The county seat of the imaginary Yoknapatawpha County (Faulkner often used this setting in his works) Jefferson resembles William Faulkner's real-life home of Oxford, Mississippi Late 1800’s – early 1900’s

Fractured Timeline/Nonlinear Structure The story is told in five sections Sections 1 and 5 are the present Sections 2-4 are flashbacks to various points in time Is similar to gossiping . . . A chunk of info from here, a chunk from there The townspeople only discovered details of her life in bits by watching her We find out the details of her life in bits in pieces like the characters do

Ghost Story Faulkner calls “A Rose for Emily” a ghost story Faulkner’s stories often included these characters: The reclusive spinster The black loyal worker The southern gentleman The intruder from the North

Why Emily Feels above the Law Colonel Sartoris remits her taxes She didn’t have to give a reason for buying the poison No one approaches her about the smell in her house

Foreshadowing Not admitting her father was dead/keeping his body for three days Buying arsenic The smell

The Rose In general, roses often symbolize love and honor but are also used in funerals The rose in the title of the story could symbolize both love and morbid tragedy The “rose for Emily” could be Homer & the vision of marriage she has with him (love) The “rose for Emily” could be the tragedy of killing him to keep him with her forever (“funeral”)

The Rose In medieval times, the white rose was a sign of secrecy The rose could be Miss Emily’s secret The rose that she loved, kept, and cherished

The Rose In 1955, Faulkner said the rose was a tribute for Emily “[The title] was an allegorical title; the meaning was, here was a woman who had had a tragedy, an irrevocable tragedy and nothing could be done about it, and I pitied her and this was a salute . . . to a woman you would hand a rose” (Faulkner at Nagano 70-71). http://ww2.faulkner.edu/admin/websites/cwarmack/William%20Faulkner%20speaks%20on.pdf

Miss Emily Emily represented the “Old South” – how it was slowly dying & making way for the newer, industrialized South Emily’s life, defined by death, is like the Old South – she fades from real life although continuing to physically exist Faulkner refers to her as a “fallen monument” – connected to the ways of the Old South Modern townspeople don’t know what do with her, so they just leave her alone

Miss Emily Reluctant to change Refuses to pay taxes when the new aldermen try to collect – “Talk to Colonel Satoris” Won’t let the town put numbers on her house for modern mail Her bridal chamber is an attempt to stop time from going on and a refusal to accept change (Homer leaving)

Her House Her run-down house in the middle of a town that was changing/growing is the last sign of the Old South Before the Civil War was beautiful and fancy Part of a rich, privileged neighborhood Now decaying and out of place amidst the gas pumps and cotton wagons Also represents mental illness and isolation Her bridal suite, lack of visitors and outside connections