FREE ESSAY ON A ROSE FOR EMILY

A ROSE FOR EMILY

"A Rose for Emily"
In "A Rose for Emily," William Faulkner's symbolic use of the "rose" is essential to the
story's theme of Miss Emily's self-isolation. The rose is often a symbol of love, and
portrays an everlasting beauty. The rose has been used for centuries to illustrate an
everlasting type of love and faithfulness. Even when a rose dies, it is still held in
high regard. Miss Emily's "rose" exists only within the story's title. Faulkner leaves
the reader to interpret the rose's symbolic meaning. Miss Emily was denied the
possibility of falling in love in her youth, so subsequently she isolated herself from
the world and denied the existence of change. Miss Emily was denied her "rose", first by
her father, then by the townspeople, and then Homer Barron. Through the explicit
characterization of the title character, Miss Emily, and the use of the "rose" as a
symbol, the reader is able to decipher that Homer Barron was Miss Emily's only "rose." 
Miss Emily's father denied her the ability to establish a "normal" relationship because
of their family's social position. She lost the will and the desire to do so, even after
he died. The reader is aware that Miss Emily's chances of having a "normal" relationship
are hindered by her father's obstinace. Miss Emily's father was a prominent
well-respected southern gentleman, and he would not allow his only daughter to be courted
by just anyone. "None of the young men were quite good enough for Miss Emily and such. We
had long thought of them as a tableau." As most little girl's do, Miss Emily idolized her
father, and held him in high regard, even though he was a strong and forbidding man, who
did not allow her to experience life. Miss Emily's father "robbed" her of her ability to
court during her youth, and therefore hindered her ability to grow emotionally. She
refused to accept that her father was anything but the southern gentleman that he was.
Miss Emily's first rose could have been her father, but he wasn't. 
"We remembered all the young men her father had driven away, and we knew that with
nothing left, she would have to cling to that which had robbed her, as people will. "Miss
Emily met them at the door, dressed as usual and with no trace of grief on her face. She
told them that her father was not dead. She did that for three days." While the corpse of
her father remained in the house for three days while Miss Emily refused to accept the
her father was dead and that she was now "left alone and a pauper," she had no idea what
to do now that she was alone. She did not know how to accept the fact that she could now
make her own decisions. "So when she got to be thirty and was still single, we were not
pleased exactly but vindicated; even with insanity in the family she wouldn't have turned
down all of her chances if they had really materialized." 
The townspeople knew that Miss Emily's chances of a semblance of a "normal" life dwindled
each day. They assumed because of Miss Emily's social status, and her age that she would
be a spinster, and expected her to act as such. They were appalled when Homer Barron
arrived, and he and Miss Emily were seen together in town. They even contacted out of
town relatives to come and talk some "sense" into Miss Emily. They could not accept that
Emily may be coming into herself, and that she may take on a personality that wasn't
modeled after their expectations of her.
When Homer Barron arrived in Jefferson, he knew nothing of the lonely woman in the old
white house. Although he is not of Miss Emily's hierarchy social status, "of course a
Grierson would not think seriously of a Northerner, a day laborer." The townspeople
wouldn't expect for Miss Emily to even be seen in public speaking with him, let alone
gadding about the town. "Presently we began to see him and Miss Emily on Sunday
afternoons driving in the yellow-wheeled buggy and the matched team of bays from the
livery stable. At first we were glad that Miss Emily would have an interest because the
ladies all said." This shows the prejudice of the townspeople, who sympathized with the
girl with the domineering father, but yet when she is older and is attempting to form a
normal "healthy" relationship, they deny her that intrinsic right. 
Homer Barron is not mentioned often in the story, but the reader gets the gist of the
hint that Miss Emily has falling in love for the first time, and then Homer leaves the
scene, apparently because the work in Jeffersen is done. The climactic purchase of
arsenic foreshadows Faulkner's eerie direction. Miss Emily has found herself a rose. Not
in the traditional sense of a red flower that one would place between the pages of a
bible, but a symbolic one that she would treasure and care for even more. She would not
or could not let him leave her. Everyone that she had ever cared for had left her, and
she would be damned if it would happen again. Miss Emily got her rose, from herself. She
allowed herself to love but would not allow herself to lose. She had lost everything that
had ever come to her, including her self-esteem, and the ability to conform to her
father's and society's wishes. She isolated herself so that she could be who she was.
Miss Emily Grierson isolated herself from a society that would not accept her for who she
was. She was viewed as someone to be pitied and scorned. Everyone deserves a rose in
life, and yet Miss Emily was denied her rose from everyone that ever came into contact
with her. Her father, the townspeople, and even Homer Barron denied her love. Miss Emily
found her rose and she would not accept the loss of love. She gave up her freedom, and
isolated herself so that she could be with the one that she loved, and remember the
embrace that they once may have shared. Like a flower between the pages of a bible Miss
Emily found that living with memories was better than living in a society that scorned
her.