A Rose for Emily – A Fallen Monument
             "A Rose for Emily," found on page 71 of the text, is a remarkable story of Emily Grierson whose death and funeral draw the attention of the town. The bizarre outcome is further highlighted throughout the story by the symbolism of the decaying house, which matches Miss Emily's physical deterioration and demonstrates her ultimate mental disintegration. Emily's life, like the house that decays around her, suffers from lack of genuine love and care.
             The characteristics of Miss Emily's house, like her physical appearance, are brought about by years of neglect. For example, the house is located in what was once a prominent neighborhood that has deteriorated over time. Originally, white and decorated in "the heavily lightsome style" of an earlier time, the house has become "an eyesore among eyesores"(71). The description of her house reflects a time of both the past and present and was a mirror of Emily herself. Through lack of attention, the house has evolved from a beautiful representative of quality, to an ugly holdover from another era. Similarly, Miss Emily became an eyesore; for example, she was first described as a "fallen monument"(71) to suggest her former splendor and her later ugliness. She was a monument, an ideal of past values but fallen because she had shown herself subject to death and decay. Like the house, she has lost her beauty. A women who once was beautiful, later became obese and bloated. Both the house and the occupant have suffered the ravages of time and neglect.
             The interior of the house also reflects Miss Emily's increasing degeneration and the growing sense of sadness that accompanies such decay. Initially, all that can be seen of the inside of the house is a slim portion where a staircase is mounted into still wall, with the house smelling of "dust and disuse"(77). The darkness and the smell of the house connect with Miss Emily, "a small, fat ...