A Rose For Emily

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Literary Analysis Essay

Introduction

William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” is one of the most outstanding gothic stories. The

author applied various elements including mystery, darkness, and grotesque elements of the

human psyche as well as death. The story further incorporated the anti-social behavior of Emily

and the mysteries surrounding her home. Having the house rumbling and decaying was horrific

and gothic in itself. It begins with Emily’s funeral and most of the people attending the function

discuss her eccentric character (Watkins 508). They talk about their weird behaviors which

started after her father’s demise. They further analyzed her affair with her lover who had

disappeared one day, never to appear again. After the funeral, the townspeople entered Emily’s

house, and to their astonishment, they found Homer Barron’s corpse. There was also a strand of

Emily’s gray hair on the pillow (Watkins 510). Indeed, the settings in this story assume

prominent roles which appear disturbing and induce horror to the audience.

How Setting Creates a Sense of Horror in “A Rose for Emily”

One way of revealing that horrible thing had happened in Emily’s house was Faulkner’s

description of an awful smell which permeated the home. The smell emerged two years after the

death of Emily’s father and shortly after her boyfriend’s disappearance (Watkins 509). Initially,

the townspeople were happy that Emily had developed an interest in a man but was concerned

that Homer was not from the south. Others felt that her relatives needed to talk to her since she

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was going against the tradition. Before the disappearance of Homer, Emily had purchased

arsenic but did not state why she needed it. Shortly after the delivery of the package marked “for

rats,” the strange odoriferous smell became evident.

Despite the complaints of the elderly mayor, it was not possible to establish the cause of

that odor. The leader tried to avoid the subject by suggesting that the smell could be from a dead

rat. However, it was evident that something more substantial was decomposing because a dead

rat could not smell half the city block. Since the major could not talk to Emily about a bad smell,

four men carried lime to the house and sprinkled it at the base of the brickwork (Watkins 509).

Additionally, they broke the door and sprinkled lime inside, and the smell disappeared after

several weeks. From these incidences, it is evident that the stench foreshadowed the ultimate

realization that Emily had poisoned Barron and his decomposing body had remained in the

house. Since Faulkner narration is not chronological, the events are not easy to piece together

initially.

Emily’s house where the events took place seems like a monument. Falkner describes it

as a creepy old house in Jefferson. It was big, square shaped and seemed to have been white at

some point. It also had cupolas and spires decorations, and its balconies represented the 1970s

lightsome styles. The setting was in one of the best streets in the ancient times. However, garages

and cotton gins had cropped up and erased even the neighborhoods names. The only house left

was that of Miss Emily, and it lifted its coquettish and stubborn decay above the gasoline pumps

and wagons. As such, the author described it as an eyesore among eyesores (Allen 689). The fact

that its construction was in the 1870s is an indication that Emily’s father was financially stable

particularly after the civil war. Regardless, the narrator describes it as an eyesore among

eyesores, a sign that it had fallen into an irreversible state. In fact, it was worse than the

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surrounding gasoline pumps. Apart from symbolizing the fallen glory of their once reputable

lives, it showed the how Emily’s life had become unbearable.

The events in the house further symbolized mental illnesses, alienation, and death. It was

a shrine to the living past, and the upstairs bedroom was her macabre treasured room where she

preserved her dead lover’s body. Like the owner, the house fascinates the neighbors due to its

mysterious features. Discovering the strand of hair also induced fear in the audience (Allen

685). It revealed the zeal of a woman determined to live her life without submitting to others

approval. Emily adhered to a distinct moral code and invented a world where she could practice

anything that fulfilled her heart including murder. The hair strand resembled the narrator’s

description of Emily’s old age and growth. During her later years, her hair had grown grizzled

until it became a “vigorous iron-gray.” As such, it stood as the last aspect of a life whose destiny

would be decay and languishing.

As the last living Grierson, Emily leads a horrible life. The society expected her to

progress from a daughter to a wife, and later to a mother (Watkins 508). However, she never

married, and it shattered her domestic dreams. She remained at one phase of being a daughter

and nothing more. Therefore, staying in her father’s house was the only option. As she grew old,

the house became more horrible and inhabitable. Emily grew hopelessly old and each year in the

house drew her further from the marriageable age. Therefore, she was unhappy most of the

times. Just like Emily, the house was an indication of squandered beauty. According to the

villagers, an unmarried woman was only a beautiful but wasted manor which translated to a

terrible eyesore. During her funeral, everyone was eager to peek into the house to see its peculiar

aspects. When Emily expressed her love for Barron, the townspeople perceived it as a mere

interest because a Grierson would never take a Northerner seriously (Allen 690). Rather, she

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should adhere to her nobleness. The older people perceived her as “Poor Emily” due to this

relationship.

The towns’ setting is also an indication that everyone had a special relationship with

Emily. They had stopped billing her for taxes in 1814, but the newer generations exhibited

displeasure with the practice. As such, Emily turned them down when they came to ask for taxes.

The townspeople associated this event with a previous one. Such is evident in the phrase “So she

vanquished them, horse and foot, just as she had vanquished their fathers thirty years before

about the smell” (Watkins 509)

Jefferson town residents seem to cling to the past which entailed slave labor. After the

American civil war which resulted in the South's defeat, the citizens experience tremendous

transformation. The tendency to maintain past practices is evident in the people’s insistence to

practice the old traditions, thoughts, and customs. For instance, after Emily’s death, all the

women visited the house to attend to the grieving. Such is evident in the phrase: ''The day after

his death all the ladies prepared to call at the house and offer condolence and aid, as is our

custom.'' (Allen 692). The imagination that it would be impossible to satisfy the customs and

traditions drove Emily to her condition. She could not stand the fact that she had become a

letdown to everyone who looked upon her.

Being at the funeral is horrific in its way. Having lost Emily’s father, it was evident that

the townspeople were uneasy with the fact that they had to bury Emily who had wasted her

whole life unceremoniously. The story starts and ends in the same setting. In the beginning, the

audiences said: “When Miss Emily Grierson died, our whole town went to her funeral” (Allen

695). At this funeral, people gathered ed and discussed Emily’s creepy habits. When her father

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died, the visited and found her dressed normally without any signs of grief. To everyone’s

dismay, she declared that her father was not dead.

Conclusion

The setting in a rose for Emily is full of horrible scenes which instigate a sense of fear

and suspense to the audience. After her father’s death, Emily seems to develop a mental

breakdown and initially refuses to acknowledge the sad fact. As such, she retreated into the

house and developed immense sadness and a mysterious illness. One day, Homer Barron,

accompanied by his crew of laborers visit the town to construct sidewalks and they become

lovers with Emily despite the disapproval from the townspeople who considered him low class.

As a girl, Emily did not mingle with the society because her father restricted her movements.

Later, Emily purchases arsenic and declines explaining its use to the townspeople. Many years

after her death, people discovered a man’s skeleton and concluded that it belonged to Homer. As

such, the settings in this story portray horror and induce fear.

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Works Cited

Allen, Dennis W. “Horror and Perverse Delight: Faulkner's ‘A Rose for Emily.’” Modern Fiction

Studies, vol. 30, no. 4, 1984, pp. 685–696. JSTOR, JSTOR,

www.jstor.org/stable/26282801.

Watkins, Floyd C. “The Structure of ‘A Rose for Emily.’” Modern Language Notes, vol. 69, no.

7, 1954, pp. 508–510. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3039622.

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