"A Rose for Emily" by William Faulkner / Part 2

“A Rose for Emily” was firstly published in 1930 and immediately attracted attention of the public. As Faulkner explained later in one of his interviews “… the meaning was … a woman who had had a tragedy, an irrevocable tragedy and nothing could be done about it, and I pitied her and this was a salute…to a woman you would hand a rose”.

The story presents us a timeline of one American southern town before and after the Civil War and a confrontation between the old generation and the new one. It begins with a funeral of Miss Emily Grierson, who lived the life of a recluse and was a mystery for every citizen of the town. William Faulkner skillfully presents Emily’s harsh destiny and contradictions provoked by the changes the new time brought. He pays much attention to the relationship between the main character and her lover, Homer Baron, which eventually led her to insanity and crime.

“A Rose for Emily” has several basic ideas. First of all, the discrepancy between the present and the past; how it’s difficult to adjust to new conditions and social rules. In the story we observe that the new generation can’t understand the tragedy of Miss Emily’s life and show any compassion. The new society struggle for the better future and there is no place for the past, which is reflected in the face of the protagonist. Another theme is the extremes of isolation. Faulkner shows how Miss Emily gradually became isolated by her father who raised her refusing to accept new social rules, by established stereotypes and traditions which destroyed Emily’s love, by the past which the main character wasn’t able to release and, at last, by her own actions and choice. She preferred solitude by her own will, and that is a part of the tragedy the author wanted to depict. The message is simple: people become captured by various reasons and prefer to surrender but not fight. One more crucial theme is the vision of the future of America. William Faulkner wants a reader to understand that there is no place for slavery anymore, though he admits that it hasn’t been absolutely conquered yet.