Introduction
A Rose for Emily is a story published by a prominent American writer, William Faulkner. The writing style has rather a descriptive nature, and the features of the Southern Gothic movement transmit skillfully combined motifs of insanity and horror (Babujee 4964). The plot revolves around a woman named Emily Grierson and her mysterious life behind closed doors. While there are many speculations and theories regarding the meaning of the narrative, the major idea implied by the author is the impossibility and defiant refusal to let go of the past and the unfortunate repercussions of such a decision. The work emphasizes the battling of old time with the new time through the personal experiences and struggles of Emily. In a sense, the author conveys the above theme, without giving specific answers but instead navigating the reader and illustrating the situation through a variety of literary elements, including the narrative’s structure, the protagonist’s dubious personality, imagery, and symbolism.
Narrative Structure
First, to give the reader the impression that they are always wandering between the past and the present, Faulkner employs a special narrative framework. The narrator uses non-sequential recollections to tell the narrative to discuss the life of Emily in different timelines. In order to emphasize that the narrator speaks for the town, the author employs the plural voice. Here, the reader can observe the narration from a collective narrator from the beginning, as it is mentioned that “when Miss Emily Grierson died, our whole town went to her funeral” (Faulkner 1). This implies that Emily herself has no interest in telling her story because of her mysterious nature, and even the speaker does not know much about her.
Moreover, in order to keep the readers in suspense, the story consists of five sections, each dedicated to a certain stage in Emily’s life. In the beginning, the first part, the storyteller describes the moment Emily Grierson passed away as well as how the locals came to her residence to pay their respect or look at the house (Faulkner 3). In the following section, on behalf of the municipal officials, the heroine is described to have resisted independent investigation by local authorities thirty years ago. Meanwhile, in the third section, after the passing of her father, Emily experiences a protracted sickness. Another puzzling section describes the concern that some members of the community have that Emily may poison herself with arsenic. Finally, in the last section, the speaker tells what happened after Emily passed away, which dates back to the beginning of the story. In this sense, while the sections are not written in chronological order, the narration seems logical in the end, when all the puzzle pieces come together.
Because of the persistent anticipation of something that has not yet happened, the author combined flashbacks and foreshadowing to generate an unnatural storytelling effect that perplexes the mind. To achieve this, the author uses a descriptive writing approach. The writer is able to demonstrate the progress of time despite his protagonist Emily’s absolute refusal of evolution, from details of her looks to a comprehensive depiction of Emily’s home in decline and destruction (Bai et al. 611). In the beginning, the readers get acquainted with Emily as “a small, fat woman” and in the following sections she is a young thirty-year-old (Faulkner 1). Meanwhile, her house was characterized as a “white, decorated with cupolas and spires” first (Faulkner 1). Yet, later, the audience sees the condition of the residence with its floorboards “bare and creaked underfoot” (Faulkner 20). In this sense, there is a gradual negative transformation and deterioration of Emily’s surroundings and well-being.
A Complex Protagonist
Another literary element used by Faulkner to illuminate the main theme of the work is the heroine and her duality. While the reader can see the difficulties Emily experienced, such as the death of her father, and feel sympathetic, her cruel actions make readers rethink their perceptions. In the beginning, Emily Grierson is seen as a woman trapped in a southern community with strong standards and rules (Asmarani 25). In the first section, the readers can see how the authorities conduct an investigation, striving to talk to her about the taxes she owes and yet she replies “I have no taxes in Jefferson” (Faulkner 3). Through this behavior, it is evident that Emily is not used and probably even afraid of changes.
Later, the reader sees that, in reality, Emily is more complicated than it seems. While it has not been directly implied, it becomes obvious in the end that the woman killed her fiancée, Homer Banner, and slept next to his dead body, which indicates the presence of mental illness. When seeing a druggist to buy arsenic, the woman was told that “the law requires you to tell what you are going to use it for” and yet she did not reply why she needs the chemicals (Faulkner 4). This illustrates the malicious intents of the woman and lack of remorse for her actions.
The readers understands that the heroine developed Stockholm syndrome after her father’s death. While it could have been due to rumored abuse of her father, it could additionally happen since, as has been mentioned by the narrator, there was “insanity in the family” (Faulkner 4). As a result, while Homer Banner did not have an intention to marry the woman, she continued to treat the man with “a complete outfit of men’s clothing” and “a man’s toilet set in silver” (Faulkner 6). This could explain why the woman would not be able to move on if Banner decided to break up with her. Her attachment led to her intention to kill the man so that she does not have to experience drastic changes.
Symbolism
Finally, symbolism is one more element used to convey the theme of the work. The author illustrates through objects and sensory imagery how crucial it is to accept the passing of time and how disfiguring it is to be locked in the past. For example, the writer illustrates a house that was once beautiful and now reeks of cadaverous decay, going from “a big, squarish frame house” to the house that “smelled of dust and disuse — a close, dank smell” (Faulkner 3). This shows how an unwillingness to change and move on influences not only inner self but the surroundings.
Furthemore, attaching to the past is shown to lead to horrifying actions, such as a murder in the story. The corpse of Emily’s fiancé, whom she could not let go in time, causes the horror of the townspeople. People are seen filing complaints about the odor, claiming that they “really must do something about it (Faulkner 4). In the end, the locals are terrified when, behind the closed doors, they find Homer, or “what was left of him, rotted beneath what was left of the nightshirt” (Faulkner 8). In this sense, the focus on the past and fear of transformation led to bigger insanity of Emily. Additionally, taxes that Emily refused to pay until her death serve as a symbol of her unwillingness to give life its due (Diani 11). The narrator mentioned that “each December we sent her a tax notice, which would be returned by the post office a week later, unclaimed” (Faulkner 7). It can be seen that the woman was determined to keep her routine and habits, regardless of the norms of the community. As a result, this was a rebellious act against the new rules and present.
Conclusion
Hence, without providing concrete answers, the author instead guides the reader through the dilemma and illustrates it through a number of literary elements, such as the narrative’s structure, the protagonist’s questionable personality, imagery, and symbolism. First, Faulkner uses a unique narrative structure to give the reader the idea that they are constantly wandering between the past and the present. Here, the author combines the techniques of collective narrator, non-chronological order of the plot, and flashbacks and foreshadowing. Another method used for the illustrating of the theme is the duality of protagonist, wherein she is seen as a woman with mental illnesses that has experienced unfortunate events and yet murdered her fiancee. Lastly, the symbolism used in the story, involving sensory imagery, odors, deterioration of the residence, decomposition of Emily victim’s body, and the refusal to pay taxes illuminate the repercussions of fear of change.
Works Cited
Asmarani, Ratna. “The Stunted Identity of Emily Grierson in A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner.” Culturalistics: Journal of Cultural, Literary, and Linguistic Studies, vol.1, no.1., 2017, pp.23-30. Web.
Babujee, Bibin John. (2021). “Southern Gothic Genre as a Key to Unlock the Post Civil War American South: A Reading of William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily”. International Journal of Aquatic Science, vol. 12, no.2, 4963-4972. Web.
Bai, Xiaojun, Xiaotong Zhang, and Yihui Li. “An Analysis of Emily’s Characters in A Rose for Emily from the Perspective of Narration.” Journal of Language Teaching and Research, vol.11, no.4, 2020, pp.611-615. Web.
Diani, Irma. “Structural Analysis of ‘Rose for Emily’: A Short Story by William Faulkner.” International Seminar and Annual Meeting BKS-PTN Wilayah Barat, vol.1, no.1, 2019, pp.1-13. Web.
Faulkner, William. (1990). A Rose for Emily. Perfection Learning Corporation.