"A Rose for Emily" - Story by William Faulkner

William Faulkner was born in 1897 and died in 1962. He grew up in a small town in Mississippi, which is the setting for many of his novels and short stories. Faulkner’s family had lost power and money during the Civil War. His work is deeply rooted in the story of the South, tackling issues such as race, gender, and class.

His short story titled A Rose for Emily is an interesting and rare one. The author wrote this story in a confusing way that I had to actively read twice to understand.

This brilliantly written story by William Faulkner embraces numerous themes that can be construed in quite a lot of ways. This short story is about Emily Griersons life. One important message that William Faulkner tried to pass across to readers through this short story is that it is crucial to let a child grow to be themselves. Giving a child the freedom of living and expression while growing up helps them to develop emotionally and socially.

Parents needs to find a balance so that they are not negligent and at the same time not overbearing when raising a child up.

Emilys father was terribly overbearing, and her daughters emotional and social life was jeopardized. Growing up, Emilys father played a major impact on her mindset. Keeping her secluded from everyone played a big role in her later life. Emilys father was obviously a selfish man who did not care whether his daughter was happy or not. A rose for Emily is a poignant example of what happens when the human mind fails to accept change.

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Emily is an enduring character and one that the reader empathizes with regardless of her murder of Homer. Abandoned by those close to her, she found relief only when by their dead body.

The story commenced with the burial of Emily Grierson. Emilys family was once Southern aristocracy. After the war is over, Emily and her father continued to live as they did before, with her father rejecting to allow her to marry because he thought no man was good enough for her daughter. Emilys life was never typical. Her father subjugated her while she was a young woman. He did not like any of her male friends and ran them off. When he died and left her alone at age 30, she was shocked and devastated. He left nothing behind for Emily except the house. He left her poor and without skills to make money. When Emily refused to bury him, the townsfolk wrote it off as a peculiar and rare grieving process.

Emily recovers eventually, and she becomes friendly with a man named Homer Barron, a Northerner who came to town shortly after her fathers death. The townspeople are pleased but surprised. However, Homer claims that he isnt the marrying kind and intends to stay a bachelor forever. When Emily is seen buying arsenic from the local store, the townspeople are convinced that Homers declaration has driven her to suicide.

The town arranges for Emilys distant cousins to come into town to watch over her, and Homer leaves. After a brief return to town three days later, he disappears and is never seen again. Despite all these events, Emily continues with her haughty, eccentric ways as if nothing has happened. The town is soon plagued by a ghastly smell coming from Emilys house, but as always, they deal with the problem in a roundabout way.

Late at night, men sprinkle lime around her house, and the smell soon dissipates. The mayor decides to waive Emilys taxes under the pretense of paying back her father after his death, and Emily is left alone in her house. Emilys funeral at the end of the story was a large occasion. When Miss Emily Grierson died, the entire town went to her funeral: the men through a kind of reverential affection for a fallen monument and the women mostly out of inquisitiveness to see the inside of her house, which no one save an old man-servant a combined gardener and cook had seen in at least ten years. Many came only to gawk at the loner.

After the funeral, opinion about the state of her house was high, and a few townspeople decide to explore whats left. They find her bedroom locked, and they kick down the door to find inside every gift Emily ever bought for Homer. On the bed is the badly decomposed body of Homer Barron with an indentation in the pillow beside him and a single gray hair.

Depression alters a person’s vantage point, permitting them to concentrate only on their failures and disappointments and to amplify bad things. Depression can influence someone to think that there is nothing to live for. I have seen many people lived an isolated life just like Emily. Isolation leads to depression. Depressed individuals need s help and healing, they are not to be left alone to suffer and die in silence. Emily lived in denial and also lived a sorrowful life.

In conclusion, I am reminded of the story of a man who after he lost his entire family in a plane crash became a shadow of himself. He lost everyone that mattered to him in one day. He isolated himself from the world. Gradually, he became a loner who chose not to live anymore, but just existed. He struggled so much with life trying to battle depression without seeking medical help. He eventually died committing suicide.

Maybe if Emily were raised to be emotionally and socially stable, she could have lived her entire life more differently. Maybe if she was raised to make friends, socialize and relate with people well, when she needed to heal and recover from depression, she could have used her friends the people around her to heal and get her life back. I learned from this short story that we all need people in our lives. We all need people in our lives who raise our standards, remind us of our essential purpose, and challenge us to become the best version of ourselves.