A Home for Emily: Or Rather, Her Crazy House

“A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner is a grim short story written in 1930. Faulkner grew up in the South, so he was able to take what he had seen throughout his life and relate them to his stories. He could see the South go through major changes and this allowed him to really let his audience see the contrasting settings (the past and present). However, Faulkner was able to use symbols to his advantage to help convey his bleak message.

The house itself is a symbol of the past and all that used to be. It was the definition of old wealth glamour until it fell into disrepair. The outside and interior were decorated quite extrava­gantly, even for the time it was built. Only well-to-do members of Southern society could afford homes such as the one in the story, therefore the reader can conclude that Emily Grierson’s father was quite wealthy. However, the home fell into disarray after her father passed away and the times have changed. The once wealthy community was no more—replaced by more common, less privileged folk. The home has endured its old traditions, much as Emily had over her long life, but now it looks and feels out of place. Just as the home has not changed and feels incongruous when compared with the rest of the town, so are the South’s old and out of date values when compared with new society standards.

Emily’s home also represents isolation, folly, and death. As stated earlier, the home is a symbol of the past and all that once was. It has stood the test of time, although ungracefully. This once magnificent home, as well as the top floor, are both a reliquary to the past. The sealed upstairs is the place where this poor girl kept her peculiar infatuation alive. As men sprinkled lime along the foundation in the middle of the night to get rid of the smell of rotting flesh, the townsfolk lie in wait for the next glimpse of this mysterious woman. She and her home are both fascinating to everyone in the town, because she almost never wanders far from her home. She allows the people that surround her to have outrageous notions about her and what she hides in the old, desolate home. Her death is the first opportunity since Homer Barron’s disappearance that the public could have an insight into her life. The people can finally have their crazy fantasies and suspicions about what went on in this old home.

The single strand of grey hair found on the pillow next to Homer Barron’s decaying corpse is a