Critical Analysis of A Rose for Emily

The literary work critiqued in this essay is a short story "A Rose for Emily" written by William Faulker on the 30th of April 1940, in The Forum. The literary piece shows the life of Emily as a young girl who attracts many suitors but has never gotten the chance to be married. William Faulker wrote the story of the life of Emily from her death to the flashbacks that happened either not long ago or decades ago. The short story A Rose for Emily finished with the mystery of the upper bedroom in the house of Emily solved, showing that Emily has necrophilia. By definition, necrophilia is a psychological disorder with which a person desires to have a sexual relationship with a corpse. This particular work of William Faulker is significant in showing how a person can physically live in the present but mentally stay in the past. It also shows how this way of living can affect their psychological well-being and social skills.

The author, William Faulker, started the story during the present situation, which is the death of Emily Grierson. Her death is one of the few talks of that town that most people were shocked by as they did not know that Emily was sick or had a sickness. Only her helper, Tobe, the only person who gets to enter her house daily, knows. Whenever Emily is requested to pay the tax, she responds that the people should talk to Colonel Sartoris, even though the said colonel was already dead for a decade. In section II of the story, the narrator tells the family background of Emily. The father of Emily, Mr. Grieson, is dominant in character and is protective of Emily to the point that he scares away all suitors of Emily. In the part where it shows the death of Mr. Grieson, Emily attempts so hard to stop the people from burying her dad as she still believes that her father is alive and not dead. It shows that Mr. Grierson has a heavy impact on the character of Emily that his presence is still felt even after death. In line with the controlling nature of Mr. Grierson, he was also a close acquaintance of Colonel Sartoris. These sections insinuate that the impact of Mr. Grieson on Emily is high, to the point that she still feels the dominating presence of the person even after his passing. The people around her judged and humanized her for the change in her personality. But since Emily became numb, she never really cared for it. Homer Barron, who enters the story in section III, is the boss of the construction team that went to Jefferson, the city in which Emily Grierson lives. Homer took a liking to Emily and made it his tradition to take Emily for drives in a yellow-wheeled buggy during Sundays. People were happy for Emily as they thought that she had finally gotten the reason to get out of her house. But, Emily is still cold and monotone. It came around the time that people suspected that Emily is going to commit suicide because of the poison, i.e. the arsenic used for killing rats, Emily bought from a pharmacy. What people were unaware of was the true intention of Emily in buying the arsenic poison that they will later find out once the mystery of the upper bedroom is revealed. After Emily bought arsenic, she was then seen by the people buying a man’s toilet set in silver with an engraved “H.B.” for each piece and a complete outfit of a men’s clothing. People then speculated that Emily and Homer are a married couple. Due to this, people did not suspect that Homer Barron was suddenly not seen going around the city. They just suspected that maybe Homer is getting ready for the coming of Emily or giving Emily the chance to get rid of her cousins. But, the time that they saw Barron entering Emily’s house led by Tobe was the last time that they ever saw Homer again. Emily also did not leave the house for a few days and would be often seen by the people sitting by the window in the upper bedroom. The next time that they saw Emily, she was fat and looked a lot older. The moment came that it has been the topic of the town that Emily has died. Many people and some relatives visited Emily’s house to give condolence. They took this time as an opportunity to discover the secret of Emily in the locked upper bedroom. Once the bedroom was open, it revealed the rotten but full-dressed body of Homer Barron, peacefully laying on the bed. On the pillow next to the head of Homer, the people saw long grayed hair. At that moment, people knew that the arsenic that Emily bought was used to poison and kill Homer because of her liking towards Homer. To relate all of the things that happened to Emily, the author showed that due to her father’s controlling and alive presence even after his death, Emily resorted to killing the person she loves as she believes that when she kills Homer, he will stay by her side and will not be scared away by her dad. This only shows that author is trying to say that too much love or protectiveness over someone you truly care for will never give you a true and meaningful relationship.

William Faulker wrote the story in a complex way that readers are going to get confused and not understand the connection between all the scenarios in Emily’s life. The constant change in the timeline, in terms of Emily presently living in the present but still thinking that the person of the past is still alive, is what makes the story confusing. Overall, the story talks about how a person’s love language, like Mr. Grierson's protectiveness over Emily, can greatly affect a person’s psychological well-being and perspective in life. In addition, the characters, setting, and plot worked well with each other, which made the story captivating to read. Even though the story would have been easier to read if the timeline doesn’t constantly change from present to past and vice versa. Likewise, the complexity made the story charming. Lastly, just like what the title says, “A Rose for Emily,” with which the rose symbolizes the love given to Emily, love was given to her without the thorns being cut causing mental and emotional pain to Emily. Loving too hard or caring too much will never result in a good relationship.