a rose for emily

             Authors traditionally use symbolism as a way to represent the sometimes-intangible qualities of the characters, places and events in their work. In the short story, "A Rose For Emily", William Faulkner uses symbolic elements to define and characterize Miss Emily Grierson.
             Faulkner uses symbolism to compare the Grierson house with Emily's life. This is emphasized throughout by the symbolism of the decaying house, which parallels Miss Emily's physical deterioration and demonstrates her mental disintegration. Emily's life, like the house, which decays around her, suffers from lack of genuine love and care.
             The eternal characteristics of Miss Emily's house parallel her physical appearance to show the changes brought about by years of neglect. For example, the house is located in what was once a prominent neighborhood that has deteriorated. Originally white and decorated in "the heavenly lightsome style" of an earlier time, the house has become "an eyesore among eyesores"(Faulkner 204). Through lack of attention, the house has advanced from a beautiful representative of quality to an ugly holdover from another era. Similarly, Miss Emily has become an "eyesore" for instance; she is described as a "fallen monument"(Faulkner 204) symbolizing her former beauty and later ugliness. Like the house, she has fallen from grace. Once she had been "a slender figure in white"(Faulkner 207) later she is obese and "bloated, like a body long submerged in motionless water with eyes lost in the fatty ridges of her face"(Faulkner 205).
             Both the house and Miss Emily have suffered the ravages of time and neglect. Just as the house is described as "smelled of dust and disuse and the leather cracked" (Faulkner 205) this could also describe Miss Emily, "a small, fat woman in black" with a voice that is "dry and cold"(Faulkner 205) as if...

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a rose for emily. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 07:21, March 29, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/33766.html