A Rose for Emily By William Faulkner :: essays research papers

The storys opening lines announce the funeral of Miss Emily, to be held in her billetnot in a churchand the reasons for the entire towns attending-the men out of respect for a Southern lady, the women to snoop inside her house. Her finis symbolizes the passing of a genteel way of life, which is replaced by a new propagations crass way of doing things. The narrators description of the Grierson house reinforces the disparity between the past and the present Once a place of splendor, now modern encroachmentsgas pumps and cotton wagonsobliterate most of the neighborhood and put across untouched only Miss Emilys house, with its stubborn and coquettish decay.This clash between the past and the present is evidenced by the different approaches that each generation takes concerning Miss Emilys taxes. In the past, Colonel Sartoris had remitted them for her, believing it uncivilized to remind a Southern woman to pay taxes, which Miss Emily does not do after her forefather dies. But the n ext generation, with its more modern ideas, holds her responsible for them. Miss Emily, however, returns the tax notice that the new aldermen send to her when the young men call upon her, she vanquishes them, saying, I deliver no taxes in Jefferson and See Colonel Sartoris, who has been utter for at least ten years.One of the most striking contrasts presented in this first section entails the narrators portrayal of Miss Emilys physical appearance and her house. Descriptive phrases include terms that add to the gothic quality of the story She is dressed in stark and leans on a cane her skeleton is small and she looks bloated, with a pallid hue. But Faulkner doesnt say outright that she looks much like a dead person, for it is only in retrospect that we realize that the dead-looking Miss Emily has been sleeping with the very dead Homer Barron.Miss Emilys decaying appearance matches not only the moulder exterior of the house, but the interior as well. For example, the crayon, paste l, picture mentioned prior to the narrators description of Miss Emily is supported by a tarnished stand, and Miss Emily supports herself by leaning on the tarnished handle of her cane.