Literary Analysis Essay-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. 685696. 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. 508510. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3039622.

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