A Rose For Emily, written by William Faulkner, is a short story about very mysterious old woman named Emily Grierson. Emily lives on a very select street in a small town in Jefferson, Mississippi. Throughout her young life, her father constantly turned away many worthy suitors. When she grew older, she quickly falls in love with a foreman from a construction company named Homer Barron. After the traumatizing death of her father, Emily was worried that another loved one would leave her. To prevent being abandoned, Emily ends the relationship by poisoning Homer, so she could “be with him forever”. At Emily’s death, Homers decomposed body was found along with a strand of iron-gray hair. At first read, Emily seems to be a mysterious and cruel type of person. Throughout the entire story, William Faulkner included many hints of symbolism to prove that otherwise, and to intensify the dark and mysterious plot.
A major symbol in the story was Emily’s house. Emily Grierson went through some very similar changes to her house. Her house was described as “white, decorated with cupolas and spires and scrolled balconies in the heavily lightsome style of the seventies, set on what had once been our most select street.” Her new and beautiful house drastically turned into an old, smelly and foul home. Emily went through some related changes. Before her fathers death, Emily was a youthful and active person. When her father died, Emily refused to let go of the past, and declined the offer to bury her father. These events caused her to become unhinged, and she descends into a state of madness where she is never once seen leaving her house. Her insanity eventually led to her killing her husband. Just like her house, Emily started off as new, and nice, but slowly became deteriorated and ruined.
Although it may seem subtle, Emily’s hair was an example of her current well being, and the type of person she was. Throughout the story, Emily’s hair was constantly changing. After the death of her father, Emily was seen with her hair was cut short, making her look like “a girl, with a vague resemblance to those angels in colored church windows–sort of tragic and serene.” This could show that she was mentally unstable and going insane, causing her to chop off all of her hair. In the end, Homer’s body is found, along with a strand of Emily’s iron-gray hair. The grey hair meant that Emily was laying beside the dead corpse of his love for quite a long time. This allows the readers to conclude that Emily truly loved Homer, even though she was the one to take his life. It is safe to conclude that Emily did not have any malicious intent to hurt Homer, she was just bound by her fear of being abandoned. The strand on Emily’s pillow can show a lot of things about Emily’s personality and her true intent.
Although the story is called A Rose For Emily, the subject of a rose was never once mentioned in the story. Typically, a rose is a symbol of love and passion. In the story, the rose symbolized Emily’s love life. Emily never had many chances to have love. When she was younger, it was mentioned that her father would turn away any suitors for Emily, without her permission. Emily was not shown much love throughout her whole life. The only person who cared about her was her father, who eventually died. Emily felt as if her “rose” was taken from her. Emily finally recovered and found love with Homer Barron, and felt like her “rose was given back to her”. The relationship did not last because Emily was so afraid of being abandoned, or having her “rose” taken away from her, that she killed him. The rose in the title symbolized Emily’s love life.
In William Faulkner’s, A Rose for Emily, Emily is a mysterious person to the townsfolk and the readers. Many would conclude that Emily is an evil person who brutally murdered the one person she loved. To subtly prove these assumptions wrong, William includes many subtle symbols of Emily’s true personality and intent. Things like her old deteriorating house, her silver hair, and a rose all show Emily’s real self. These hidden symbols show that Emily never had malicious intent, and was only love deprived. Although indistinct, William Faulkner presented many hidden symbols of Emily.