Analysis of "A Rose For Emily"
             A Rose For Emily was written by William Faulkner in 1931. Not only is this story sad, and in the end a bit horrific, but it appears to be some-what autobiographical. It is written with a certain first-hand knowledge. There appears to be a direct link between Emily and the author, not the narrator, but the author, William Faulkner. Some indications of this relationship can be found in the characters and the setting. Mr. Faulkner seemed to be at a low point in his life when he wrote this short story, and perhaps found a release by describing his struggle in a work of fiction.
             In "A Rose For Emily", Emily Grierson is described in her younger days as having a slender figure, and in one instance being compaired to an angel. She may have been described this way, because Faulkner thought highly of himself in his younger years. But in her later years, Emily is described as, "...a small, fat woman in black, with a thin gold chain descending to her waist and vanishing into her belt, leaning on an ebony cane with a tarnished gold head. Her skeleton was small and spare; perhaps that is why what would have been merely plumpness in another was obesity in her. She looked bloated, like a body long submerged in motionless water, and of that pallid hue." With age, Faulkner had become a wealthy man, but also began to gain weight. During this dark time, he probably thought of himself this way; old, depressed, and worn down by lifes long struggles.
             The two also endured similar love lives that ultimately ended in pain. Faulkner himself lost his first love to another man. Her family kept her from William because they thought the other man would make a better husband. In Emily's case her father turned away many young suiters of whom she could have had her pick and then her first love abandoned her shortly after her fathers death. Her next love turned out to be a hom...