A Rose for Emily

William Faulkner(1897-1962) was born in Mississippi, near Oxford, were his family moved when he was five. His great-grandfather had been somewhat of a local legend after becoming a colonel in the Civil War. His heritage is a great influence in his literary works.



William Faulkner’s short story “A Rose for Emily” shows Fualkner’s concern for the destruction of the South, as represented within the destruction of the whole town, including Ms. Emily. Ms. Emily had been “a tradition, a duty, and a care,” when she was alive. From the beginning of the story the reader finds out she has just died and she is a “fallen monument.” A person to be revered. As the plot develops thru the narrator, whom many consider to be the town, we learn that Ms. Emily had not been allowed to have any male friends because her father was over protective of his daughter. When is young she is thin and wearing virginal white, while standing behind her father’s menacing presence. After ...