Preserving Tradition in A Rose For Emily Essay

A Rose for Emily

This is a story about a woman holding on to the traditions she was brought into this world with, and not accepting the changes that are thrown in her face in the small yet talkative town of Jefferson. This tale is called A Rose for Emily. This story is brilliantly written by William Faulkner. Throughout the story Emily is forced to deal with change and death, the main themes of the story, and the main image that sticks out is the rose, which was never mentioned in the story. These three aspects are the backbone and life to the whole story and deserve more examination.

In William Faulkners story he uses the theme of retaining tradition in the face of change and modernization. Emily is the prime symbol of this theme, and he nails it with using her as the emblem of the Old South. In the story Faulkner mentions her as a fallen monument (pg 308). Evidence of this provided from the book is Emily still has a servant, which is not how things are during her present time. Tobe is an odd character too. Faulkner gives him an Old South image, because in that time the slaves were free and he stuck around because it is the only thing he knew.

The book also says that it is as if Emilys house stood in time, which once again Faulkner uses as keeping tradition. The author gives another good description and event that is in relation to maintaining tradition in the face of change. When Faulkner tells of when they find Homer dead and it is as if the room was frozen in time, much like Emily is an example of this. The author uses colorful words and phrases by supporting the fact that change is not in all of us, especially Emily. All of this matters to the story because it is mainly what the story is about with another supporting theme that also goes along great with the story.

Not only does Emily hold onto traditions, but she also holds on to her loved ones, even if they are dead. This is why death is another important theme in this story. When Emilys father dies she holds on to him because she cannot accept death yet. I love how the author spoke of her keeping a clutch to her father for three days denying his death. It shows she is not ready for the change of not having him around and she is not willing to give in to this change. The highpoint of the story is when they find out Emily kills Homer. The author hits precisely on the spot when he says, then we noticed in the second pillow was the indention of a head (pg. 308). This is a huge part of the story because she is holding on to the dead and embracing the feeling that he cannot leave her and cannot change like the outside world, which she is not taking part in.

...We saw a long strand of iron-gray hair (pg.308), Emilys final remaining part of her left in the eye of change. Faulkner does a magnificent job of leaving the last sentence the way it is and making the reader wonder and interpret the strand of hair in their own opinion. This strand of gray hair represents lost love and also stands as a rose that is left for someone when they pass on. This is the rose in the title of the story. Faulkner does an amazing job at foreshadowing this earlier when he tells of how she looks and mentions her hair color.

The forlorn strand tells of what people will do to maintain life and happiness even if murder is committed. I believe this strand of gray hair is the main image in the whole story, and sums up both themes in this lonesome lock. This unquestionably benefits the enjoyment of the whole story because the title is misleading other than the reader can get a sense of death. But, after reading this and looking back on the story it is more understandable and spine-chilling.

Preserving tradition in the visage of change put with death and symbolized by a strand of iron-gray hair makes for one heck of a good story. With all of these factors to the story, it keeps the reader enjoyed and focused waiting for the ending. The storys strength is definition in the narration, which is not coming from Emily herself but from talk around town, so it lets the author wonder as to what she is thinking and giving out hints about what he wants us to imagine. The only weakness in the story is the jumping back and forth, it should just be told from past to present. The purpose of this story is made clear by old habits die hard. All together I love this story, Faulkner does a great job with the underlying subject matter surrounding Emily.