A Rose For Emily Or Something More — страница 2

After Emily’s death, many of the people in the town brake into one of the locked rooms and discover that most of the room and its objects were red. Red is usually the symbol of love. Also, the way in which Homer’s body was found symbolizes her love for him. She must have cared for him because she took the time to undress him, put him in his night shirt, and lay him on the bed. If she had just wanted him dead and not to be with him she probably would have had her servant dispose of the body. Also if she had allowed him to leave her there would be dramatic changes in her life such as the town pitying her even more. “The view of Emily as a monument would have been destroyed. Emily might have become the object of continued gossip, but she would have become susceptible to the

town’s pity – therefore, human. Emily’s world, however, continues to be the Past(in its extreme form it is death), and when she is threatened with desertion and disgrace, she not only takes refuge in that world, but she also takes Homer with her, in the only manner possible.” (West 150)Homer Barron may also someone he does not appear to be. Homer might actually have been a homosexual. “[Homer himself had remarked - he liked men, and it was known that he drank with the younger men in the Elks' Club - he was not a marrying man.] (Wallace 106)” He is also associated with items that suggest he is sterile or that for some reason he will not have children. Hal Blythe states, “Moreover, even in death Barron and the bedroom are covered with patient and biding dust,’

Faulkner’s traditional image of sterility. (49)” Mr. Blythe also states that Homer Barron was probably gay. “When he first appears, Barron is Associated with mules and machinery’ [Bedford 50], things that can never bear fruit.” “[Even Barron’s last name refers to the fruitless, or barren, union with Miss Emily” (49). Finally, there are several examples of how her father’s control over her was so great. The townspeople pictured Emily dressed in white standing behind her father, and him in the foreground holding a horsewhip. The whip symbolizes his strictness and desire for Emily to be a perfect little girl. As Mr. West put it, “..she has been frustrated by her father, prevented from participating in the life of her contemporaries,” (150). As stated earlier

when her father died she refused to bury him saying he was not dead. This can also exhibit his control over her even after his death. Emily’s killing Homer after he had decided to leave her also can also symbolize her father’s control. Her father had influenced her so much that she felt it was wrong for Homer to desert her so she killed him in order for him to remain with her as if they were married. There are quite a few symbols in “A Rose for Emily,” and each one has a special meaning. The meaning of the symbols must be determined by each reader, and therefore, each time the story is read it can take on a new form. Which will make this story last for generations to come. Work Cited Blythe, Hal. Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily.” The Explicator. Washington D.C.:

Heldref Publications, 1989. V. 47. 49-50. Faulkner, William. “A Rose for Emily.” The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. Michael Meyer. 3rd ed. Boston: Bedford-St. Martin’s P, 1993. 47-53. Schwab, Melinda. A Watch for Emily. Studies in Short Fiction. Ed. Michael J. O’Shea. Columbia, SC: The R.L. Bryan Company, 1991. V. 28. 215-217. Wallace, James. Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily.”. The Explicator. Washington D.C.: Heldref Publications, 1992. V. 50. 106-7. West, Jr., Ray. Atmosphere and Theme in Faulkner’s A Rose for Emily’. Short Story Criticism. Ed. Sheila Fitzgerald. Detroit, Michigan: Gale Research Inc. Book Tower, 1989. V.1. 148-50.