“A Rose for Emily”

1. “A Rose for Emily” William Faulkner

2. The Setting -- Jefferson • The county seat of the imaginary YoknapatawphaCounty (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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

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

7. 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”)

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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)

12. 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