A Broken Flower
In “A Rose for Emily”, Emily Grierson, the main character, is portrayed as a mysterious and reclusive woman, one who no longer has a desire to meld with the community she has lived in her whole life. It is apparent that she has not always been this way, and only began to change from an outgoing community member to the reclusive personality she became after the death of her father. Her isolation was further exacerbated by the death of her lover, though this is not immediately obvious. While many things factor into the uniqueness of Emily’s personality, the symbolism in Faulkner’s story points out that there two things prohibiting her from once more becoming a part of the community in which she has always been admired, her obsession with the past and her unwillingness to accept change.
The setting in which the story begins sets the stage for the southern gothic style of writing. The narrator describes the Grierson home as a typical homestead of the south that once was a grand display of southern genteelness. “It was a big, squarish frame house that had once been white, decorated with cupolas and spires and scrolled balconies in the heavily lightsome style of the seventies, set on what had once been our most select street” (367). This depiction allows the reader to visualize what once must have been an imposing homestead, purposely flaunting wealth and demanding proper respect. The townspeople recollect that the Grierson name once earned that kind of traditional esteem as well. The house was obviously built to impress people and attract attention. Similarly a young Emily was paraded around town by her father, like a badge or ornament of his wealth and status in the town, just like the extravagant house. As the story progresses, the house’s disrepair seems to parallel with Emily’s waning appearance. Just as the house is described as once having been white and decorated, Emily herself is described as having once been a slender, young girl. After Emily’s...
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