Gnesis Duran Caraballo

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Dr.Vala

A Rose with Thorns for Emily

A Rose for Emily is a story that requires analysis and close-careful reading.
Faulkner and his choice of narrating made this story more interesting that it by itself was.
The series of events divided in five parts, kept the reader in the edge of the seat up until
the end. The author subtly addresses themes such as: race, gender, death, social class,
amongst others. By looking at A Rose For Emily, we can see a mysterious behavior
unleashed by the death of her father, this is important because we get that the role of men
in her life is fundamental, and her decisions in the story are reflected upon this main
event. Did the fathers death leave psychological damage on Emily? Why did Emily
Grierson kill Homer Barron? What is the Negros real role in the story? This are some of
the questions readers come to face whilst adventuring through Faulkners letters.
Fathers usually portrait the authority figure in a family. None of the young men
were quite good enough for Miss Emily and such. We had long thought of them as a
tableau, Miss Emily a slender figure in white in the background, her father a spraddled
silhouette in the foreground, his back to her and clutching a horsewhip, the two of them
framed by the back-flung front door. (Page 252, paragraph 25) All of Emily Griersons
suitors were rejected by her father. By Faulkner placing Emily in the back and her father
in the front with a horsewhip represents a barrier between her and any future prospect she

might have. Being in a white background, represents purity and the virginity expected
until marriage, also represents the position of women in this time and place. Women in
the early 1900s were considered possession of her father and later her husband, chosen
by him. We did not say she was crazy then. We believed she had to do that. We
remembered all the young men her father had driven away, and we knew that with
nothing left, she would have to cling to that which had robbed her, as people will. (Page
252, paragraph 28) Since Mr. Grierson never permitted Emily of a life of her own, when
he died, she could not assimilate it easily. Emily clung to the only figure of a man in her
life and did not want to let go of that. The townspeople understood that Emilys holding
on to the body for three days and saying he was alive was part of the shock. They too,
understood what meant her fathers figure for her and how big of a loss this was. In the
wake of this series of events, the reader starts to question himself whether this was
normal behavior or not.
Homer Barron, foreman, a Yankee a big, dark ready man with a big voice and
eyes lighter than his face (page 253 paragraph 30) From the description the author
provides, we know he is a worker from the north and he has dark skin probably because
of the working beneath the sun. The relationship between north and south was not well
seen because of the civil war that happened not a long time before. Homer, was also
interested in partying and spending time with his male friends, which was cause for
rumors of him being gay. After a long analysis of this character, Barron is still a
permanent question sign in the whole story. We do not get much insight into their
relationship. We only see what the townspeople see; that being, the Sunday driving and a
very vague description of Emily buying a toilet piece for him. After a short time of being
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seen together, the rumors of marriage started and not long after, he disappears without a
public blowout, explanation or real cause. Once again, Miss Emily imprisons herself into
her house and does not come out for a long time. What is Homer Barrons importance in
the story? Only two years after her fathers death she met him, he quickly became the
only male companion she was ever seen with (except from Tobe, her Negro worker). Up
until this part of the story we have seen how the loss of male companionship makes
Emily an antisocial person. Emily makes herself seem as a dependent woman to the
publics eyes when she encloses herself in her house and does not let anyone in.
When we think about Tobe and his importance, we see a mere servant or assistant
to Miss Emily. The Negro plays an important role because he was an accomplice to
everything that happened from beginning to end. He accompanied her to buy the arsenic,
was there when she killed Homer Barron, lived in the same home as them (Emily and the
corpse), helped her get rid of the gentlemen recollecting taxes, and many other events.
He talked to no one, probably not even to her, for his voice had grown harsh and rusty,
as if from disuse. (Page 255, paragraph 52) This character is not only important but also
symbolic. It does not specify whether he had permitted to talk or not but, his voice
becoming rusty from disuse means that his opinion was not asked nor needed. Faulkner
used this character to expose the social problem of race and the subordination it
represents. Readers will never know how the Negro feels because he has no voice, not
only literally but symbolically too. The Negro met the first of the ladies at the front door
and let them in, with their hushed, sibilant voices and their quick, curious glances, and
then he disappeared. He walked right through the house and out the back and was not
seen again.(Page 255, paragraph 54). Tobe completed his last task as a housekeeper and
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left forever. Once Miss Emily died he served no use in the story and was finally free of
his labor. We do not know much about him but what we do know is that he is loyal as can
be, and never left Emily alone. Tobe represents the loyalty and true reliability her father
nor Barron provided for her.
But there were still others, older people, who said that even grief could not
cause a real lady to forget noblesse oblige- without calling it noblesse oblige. They just
said, "Poor Emily. Her kinsfolk should come to her." (Page 253, paragraph 31) Noblesse
oblige means what your descendants or your name obliges you to have, meaning that the
combination of this factors does not make him, Homer Barron, a good suitor for Miss
Emily. The opinion of the people in the town, plays a big role throughout the whole story.
Faulkner uses the voices of the townspeople to reflect the opinion whether it is from
himself or a popular opinion. He shifts between we and they to include or exclude
himself from what is happening at the moment. The pronouns the author uses are
important because they give us intimacy with the story and makes us part of it, also gives
information about his own position in what is happening.
Social class in the story was presented very carefully and sublime, so sublime that
if read without deep analysis, people did not notice. Emily Grierson since the beginning
of the story had and advantage that no one did. The fact that she was exempt from paying
taxes in Jefferson is an example of those advantages she had. When the horrible smell
emanated from her house, it bothered every neighbor but still no one made a real effort to
call her attention or ask her to put a stop to it. Miss Emily just stared at him, her head
tilted back in order to look him eye for eye, until he looked away and went and got the
arsenic and wrapped it up. The Negro delivery boy brought her the package; the druggist
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didn't come back. When she opened the package at home there was written on the box,
under the skull and bones: "For rats." (Page 253, paragraph 41) The people in town
made excuses for her. She never said what she wanted the arsenic for, and even though
she was required by the law to specify, she did not. Already we knew that there was one
room in that region above stairs which no one had seen in forty years, and which would
have to be forced. They waited until Miss Emily was decently in the ground before they
opened it. (Page 255, paragraph 56). Townspeople knew that there was a room which
was closed, no one ever saw Homer Barron coming out from the house, she bought
arsenic and she had racial, social or personal (the rumors of his homosexuality) reasons to
kill him, but they still waited until she died to barge into her house. The author gives
Emily two opposing personalities. Some may say that Emily is a strong woman who is
respected by the town. Some people might say that she is vulnerable to the men in her
life. Either way, Emily Griersons strand of gray hair next to the corpse will forever be
the perfect ending to this gruesome story. One who does not read carefully might say this
is a mystery and that is it, others who loved and wanted to dip themselves into the
literature, know that Faulkners A Rose for Emily was so much more.