The Meaning behind "A Rose for Emily" (Essay Sample)

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The Meaning behind "A Rose for Emily"
"A Rose for Emily" is regarded as Faulkner’s most recognized, most popular and most anthologized short story. It evokes the terms southern gothic and grotesque, two forms of literature in which the general tone is one of groom, terror and understated violence. It becomes therefore, surprising that a story which is heavy with dark undertones of many negative acts that the human mind can conceive; a murder, a corpse, a secretive servant who mysteriously disappears, a putrefying mansion, and most horrific of all, necrophilia, should have a title as warm and affectionate and sincere as "A Rose for Emily". This essay is going to evidence the appropriateness of the title "A Rose for Emily" for the short story. It will borrow heavily on how the author uses different aspects of the story to justify the actions of the main protagonist, Miss Emily.
Throughout the short story, it is noticeable that there is no exchange of any flower let alone a rose, however, the word rose is found five times, one of which is through the title of the story, and the first two mentions it has been used as a verb. That is:
"When the Negro opened the blinds of one window, they could see that the leather was cracked; and when they sat down a faint dust rose sluggishly about their thighs, spinning with slow motes in the single sun-ray”. (1.5)
and
"They rose when she entered – a small, fat woman in black, with a thin gold chain descending to her waist and vanishing into her belt, leaning on an ebony cane with a tarnished gold head”. (1.6)
These excerpts formed the first mentions of rose. Herein, it has been used as a verb, which is the reason why the subtle echo of the "rose" is barely noticeable when the title is read. A reader concentrates on the image, first, of the inside of Miss Emily lonely parlor, and then of Miss Emily herself. In both instances, the word "rose" is subconsciously working on the reader to contribute to the image.
The next two mentions of "rose" follow at the tail end of the story:
"A thin, acrid pall as of the tomb seemed to lie everywhere upon this room decked and furnished as for a bridal: upon the valance curtains of faded rose color, upon the rose-shaded lights, upon the dressing table, upon the delicate array of crystal and the man's toilet things backed with tarnished silver, silver so tarnished that the monogram was obscured." (5.4)
The use of "rose" in this excerpt refers to the color "rose”, from the lampshades to the curtains; rose was the dominant color of Miss Emily’s bridal chamber.
One thing that conspicuously stands out in the four mentions of rose in the passage is that they do not in any way relate to the title of the story. Therefore, the title can only be an allegorical title. It is a symbolic title meant to allude to some inherent message that can only be deciphered by reading the story not by its literal face but be interpreted through some deeper perspective. Maybe by asking "Why does Emily Deserve a Rose?”
Miss Emily was an aristocratic woman deeply admired by a community that placed her on a pedestal and viewed her as "a tradition" or as Faulkner terms her, "a fallen monument”. In contrast to the view that the society has of her, Emily is a deeply wounded soul, an empty shell and simply a woman who is desperate for affection. She goes to great lengths to pursue love. She poisons and kills her lover, Homer Barron, just to be close to and receive human love. She conceals his decomposing corpse in her bedroom bed and spends her nights next to it for many years. The narrator emphasizes the length of time as long enough for the people of the community to discover "a long strand of iron-gray hair" remaining on the bed cushion adjacent to what was remaining of him, "rotten beneath what was left of the nightshirt" and flaunting a "profound and fleshless grin”. This statement clearly demonstrates the lengths that Miss Emily went just to have someone who she could relate with human love.
These unspeakable secrets she had to keep so as to maintain the picture of an aristocratic woman. A member of the Grierson family held so high socially...