In “A Rose for Emily”, William Faulkner uses imagery and...

In â€Å"A Rose for Emily†, William Faulkner uses imagery and symbolism to both illustrate and strengthen the most prevalent theme; Emily’s resistance to change. William Faulkner seems to reveal this theme through multiple descriptions of Miss Grierson’s actions, appearance, and her home. Throughout the short story it is obvious that Emily has a hard time letting go of her past, she seems to be holding onto every bit of her past. Readers see this shown in several ways, some more obvious than others. William Faulkner uses imagery to represent Miss Grierson’s confrontation to change by vividly describing her appearance. With the description given of Emily, readers might conclude that it symbolizes her inability to change. He describes†¦show more content†¦She, Emily, is physically living but not in the present; she is stuck living in her past. We first see this when her father dies, â€Å"She told them that her father was not dead. She did that for three days, with the ministers calling on her, and the doctors, trying to persuade her to let them dispose of the body.† (Faulkner). This depicts that she is enamored of the dead which is why she resists in letting them bury her father. Emily did not want to kept denying her father’s death so she decided to hold onto him. By the description Faulkner gives, one may say Emily just did not know how to adapt to change. With that being said, she feared change so she did not want to let go because she was so dependent on her father and now he was gone. Once Emily passed on and was buried, people from her town go into her house and discover a decomposed corpse along with the strand of gray hair on the pillow next to what was formerly Homer Barron. Faulkner explains in detail yet again what was found, â€Å"†¦What was left of him, rotted beneath what was left of the nightshirt†¦Then we noticed that in the second pillow was the indentation of a head†¦we saw a long strand of iron-grey hair†. With this being said it is discovered that she, Emily, had been sleeping next to his dead body for years. These two examples are prime reasons one could conclude that she had an issue letting go of her past. Throughout the short story Emily seemed to not want toShow MoreRelatedA Rose For Emily Literary Analysis875 Words   |  4 PagesAdopting new ideas allows for both the individual and society to progress. William Faulkner packs the short story â€Å"A Rose for Emily† with different types of literary devices that describes the fight against change in the post-U.S. Civil War South. Faulkner’s story takes place in the Southern town of Jefferson Mississippi in the late 1800’s, early 1900’s. The symbolism of the primary characters (Emily Grierson, her father and the Grierson estate) chronicles how difficult change is in Jefferson. AssumingRead MoreA Deeper Look At William Faulkner s `` A Rose For Emily `` And Cha rlotte Perkins Gilman `` Yellow Wall Paper2163 Words   |  9 PagesA deeper look at William Faulkner’s â€Å"A Rose for Emily† and Charlotte Perkins Gilman â€Å"Yellow Wall Paper† shows that the authors illustrate the isolation, repression and confinement of women in a male dominated and sexist society during the nineteenth century. The stories show the enormous effect repression has on the emotional and mental health of the opposite sex. Naomi Nkealah states that in patriarchal cultures, power is vested in the hands of men and therefore women s needs are classed as secondaryRead MoreANALIZ TEXT INTERPRETATION AND ANALYSIS28843 Words   |  116 Pages 5. Resolution Beginning Middle End In some novels this five-stage structure is repeated in many of the individual chapters, while the novel as a whole builds on a series of increasing conflicts and crises. Such a structure is found both in such classics of fiction as Flaubert’s â€Å"Madame Bovary† and in the adventure thrillers of Alistar MacLean. EXPOSITION: The exposition is the beginning section in which the author provides the necessary background information, sets the scene, establishes