Securing Higher Grades Costing Your Pocket? Book Your Assignment at The Lowest Price Now!
loader
Add File

Error goes here

Files Missing!

Please upload all relevant files for quick & complete assistance.

Save Time & Excel Academics

Share your requirements & connect with top tutor !

watch
question
We will use e-mail only for:

arrow Communication regarding your orders

arrow To send you invoices, and other billing info

arrow To provide you with information of offers and other benefits

Add File

Files Missing!

Please upload all relevant files for quick & complete assistance.

2,181,808

Orders

4.9/5

Overall Rating

5,223

Experts

A Rose for Emily: What the Symbols Meant in the Story?

UserLachlan Nguyen time04 January,2018

In William Faulkner’s popular story “A Rose for Emily”, the character of Ms Emily Grierson often leaves the reader questioning her mental condition. As the story unravels the obscurity of Ms Grierson’s mysterious life, we also learn about the significant elements such as the tradition, customs and values which were beautifully constructed in this interesting piece of literature. The story is set in a time where the society is going through a transition, and while the entire town is embracing the modern, the high-born girl Emily seems to hold on to the tradition.

A Rose for Emily” is a story that depicts the struggle the protagonist faces as she tries to maintain tradition in the face of widespread radical change. Emily, who was born in the elite Grierson family, is portrayed as the last remnant of the aristocracy in Jefferson. Even though the place and its people are quite unique in their own way, it projects an outlook of any American county during that era.

a rose for emily analysis essay

The character of Emily itself represents tradition. She stays the same over the years, even though the community is experiencing a lot of changes. Her image reflects the tradition that people wish to respect and honour; however, she is also seen as a burden and completely detached from the outside world, nursing idiosyncrasy that the townspeople fail to comprehend.

Emily lives in the world of her own making, in her own timeless vacuum. While the whole town has got familiar with the modern mail service, she refuses to have a metallic number affixed to the side of her house. Throughout the story, she remains quite aloof from the outer world. In fact, she seems quite oblivious to what is happening outside her sealed perimeters. The aldermen try to break with the unofficial agreement what was made between Colonel Sartoris and Emily, but as it appears she has no knowledge that Colonel’s been dead for years.

List Of Few Important Essay Topics

Animal Right EssayGlobalization EssaysJuvenile Delinquency EssayPersonal Experience EssayThe Great Gatsby Essay
Discrimination essayCulture EssayA Doll House EssayArt EssayMary Wollstonecraft Essay
Water & Climate change EssayTime Management EssayPhysical Abuse EssayObservation EssayAnimal Abuse Essay
Morning Rain essayAlice in Wonderland EssayFirst Person EssayHumanities EssayIntercultural Communication Essay
Who Am I EssayReproductive health EssaysDrawing EssayMarketing EssayEssay on Serial Killer
Importance of Family EssayWalt Disney EssayUnity EssayEssay on LoveStanford Prison Experiment Essay
Importance of Tree essayCollege Goal EssaySat EssayChauvinism vs Misogyny EssayTwelfth-night Essay
GMO essayRhetoric EssayReview EssayHRM Skills Portfolio EssaysFairy Tale Essay
Capitalism essayLeadership & Management EssayEssay on InternetEssay on Love & HateMacbeth Essay

Even though Jefferson is portrayed as a place that’s embracing the modern with its open arms, it still highly regards traditional notions of reputation and honour. As a matter of fact, the narrator is critical of the old men in their Confederate uniforms who gather in Emily’s funeral. In this story, the past has been portrayed as not as a faint glimmer, but as an ever-present realm, at least for Emily. Her macabre bridal chamber is introduced in the story in a well-constructed setting where Emily had tried to stop time and prevent change, even if it is done by ending a human life.

How to approach your analysis essay on “A Rose for Emily”?

Writing a literary analysis of the various literary devices won't be a simple task for you, especially if you are instructed to write a five paragraph-long essay. There are so many areas to explore in the literary analysis of a story, but since there is a limit on word count, you need to be very specific about what you discuss in the analysis. For instance, if you are assigned to prepare a literary analysis essay on “A Rose for Emily", you should pick a literary element of the story (such as plot, characters or symbols) and give your analysis on that particular element.

Since it’s basically an essay, you need to consider the fundamental structure of an essay while drafting your analysis essay. It means your essay must have an impressive introduction, insightful body content and a compelling conclusion. Besides, you also need to include a thesis statement in the essay that will project the main idea of your argument. As you may realize, the whole point of the essay is to establish your argument by providing evidence.

If you are assigned with this particular story by William Faulkner, or you chose this yourself, the first thing you need to do is go through the whole store of "A Rose for Emily”. Without reading the entire piece, you won’t be able to analyze any literary element critically. Also, when you are reading the text, make sure to note down all the significant details that you think will be helpful in your essay along with the page number where the detail can be found.

As you are done reading, you need to critically analyze the whole content and find out what you are going to write in the essay. This exercise will help you create the thesis statement for the essay which will clearly state the main idea of the essay. Be very specific about the element that you are going to choose as the focus of your analysis. A lot of students end up writing vague essays which do not really establish any argument in the process.

You can refer to the following examples where the “power of death” and the “symbols” used in the story are critically analyzed.

Critical Analysis of the power of death portrayed in “A Rose for Emily"

From the very beginning, death has been depicted as a major element in the story. The story starts with the death of Emily, and as the story goes back is time and describes Emily’s whole life, death remains a constant element that prevails over every attempt to master it. However, Emily does not give in to death easily. Through the description made by the narrator on the character of Emily, “a drowned woman, a bloated and pale figure left too long in the water” or “a small, spare skeleton” which basically meant she was dead on her feet.

Emily is portrayed in the story as a symbol of the old south, an aristocrat whose uprightness and charm have declined with time, much like the outdated sensibilities that are represented by the Griersons. In this story, we get the indication that the old social order will blur anyway, even though some townspeople try to stay true to the traditions.

In multiple occasions, Emily has made an attempt to exert power over death by going into denial about the fact of death itself. Her peculiar connection with the dead bodies of the people she loved (which can be called Necrophilia) is first revealed when her father dies. Even though her father wasn't ideal father figure, yet she loved him in her own extreme way. As the narrator tells, Emily clings to the body for her controlling father with a complete denial, not ready to accept that her father is gone forever. Even though she eventually gives his dead body up, she does that with reluctance.

When Homer Barron, the person who was in intimate relationship with Emily, dies, Emily refuses to acknowledge it once again. However, this time she was the one responsible for the death of a person. By killing the person she loves, Emily was able to keep Homer near her. Although, her attempt to keep him near him made her permanently distant from her. As the story reaches its end, the townspeople discover the remnants of Homer’s lifeless body and the silver toilet set which indicated their grotesque marriage, revealing Emily’s disturbing attempt to fuse life and death. This only proves that it is death that ultimately wins.

The symbols used in “A Rose for Emily"

The story written by William Faulkner is filled with symbols and imageries, starting from its title where the “rose” signifies pity that the readers will have as they go through the lonely and challenging life of Emily Grierson. Here are two of the most significant symbols that were used in the story to reflect much deeper meaning.

Emily’s house:

Just like the character of Emily, her house is a monument that is the only remaining symbol of Southern Aristocracy when the whole world is embracing the modern. As the house is described in the story, it is large, square frame house that is lavishly decorated. In fact, the architecture of the house (with the cupolas, spires, and scrolled balconies) gives an outlook of a building which is built in the 1870s. Although, when the story takes place, things have already started to change, and the streets and neighborhood that once were affluent and pristine, have lost their glory with time.

The house symbolizes the character of Emily – stubborn and coquettish. It also signifies the endurance and preservation of the tradition which now seems out of place with all the cotton wagons, gasoline pumps and other industrial lands surrounding it, just as the Southern values are now out of place in the society that is transitioning. In another context, the house also represents mental sickness, alienation and demise. It is a living example of the glorious past, where the sealed bedroom is Emily's macabre trophy room where she keeps the man she desires and never wants him to leave her side.

The townspeople skulk along the edges of Emily's life and property when they sprinkled lime around the house to repel the foul smell. For the people, the house is an object of fascination, much like its owner. They create their own fantasies and interpretations onto the crumbling structure and the mysterious person living inside it. When Emily died, the people of Jefferson got the opportunity to peak into the forbidden territory and confirm their wildest imaginations about the place and its owner and have their own interpretation of what had occurred inside the house.

The strand of hair:

The strand of hair symbolizes the love that is lost and the things people do to attain happiness in life. The strand of hair also gives a glimpse of the inner life of the woman who always lived on her own terms without caring about what other have to say about her actions. Despite her peculiarities, Emily stays rigid on her moral code and occupies a world of the own creation, where even murder is justified.

Before learning about the long hair strand of hair on the pillows, we get to know about the physical transformation Emily goes through as she ages. The colour of her hair turns more and more grizzled and finally becomes "vigorous iron-grey". The strand of the hair that was left on the pillow ultimately signifies the last sign of life that is left to fade away, quite similar to the remnant of Emily's former lover, Homer's body.

While reading the story, one may wonder why the title says "A Rose for Emily” when the story does not mention any rose. The word “rose” is used in the content for particularly four times, and among those four times, it was used twice as a verb. Well, as mentioned before, the rose is used as a symbol. Her whole life, Emily has watched the world through rose-coloured glasses, and as the story depicts, she takes the idea to an extreme. When she realizes the person she loves doesn't want to be with her, she kills her and creates a macabre bridal chamber.

The title was used as an allegory. It meant the woman had had a numerous tragedy in her life and nothing could be done about it; nobody actually did anything about it. The only thing people did was pity her. She is a woman whom one would hand a rose as a sign of pity. Maybe it is to ask the readers to be more compassionate about the character.

Struggling to draft an analysis essay on a particular literature piece? Get started with MyAssignmenthelp.com and find the perfect solution to your academic quandary

MyAssignmenthelp.com is the leading online academic solution provider which has been serving in this field for nearly a decade.  We have started our services with the objective to provide the students with the essential academic assistance which can allow them to soar high in their academic pursuits. At MyAssignmenthelp.com, we have noticed that students may face a number of difficulties when they are burdened with a task of drafting an academic paper. While a lot of students find it difficult to finish the paper in time due to the time constraints, a great number of students also struggle to accomplish the task due to their poor writing skills or lack of knowledge on the topic. MyAssignmenthelp.com recognizes all these elements and offers the much-needed assistance on request.

There are more than 4000 skilled academic writers in our team who are quite familiar with the topics that are usually assigned to the students by their professors (or supervisors). Since most of the writers here have several years of experience in this profession, working even on the most convoluted topics, seem quite simple to them. We also offer you the option to choose the service which you particularly require. This not only helps them fulfill their specific needs but also allows them to avoid unnecessary services which are often served as the part of the whole service package. Interestingly, the majority of the writers possess PhDs on their respective field of expertise, so you can always expect a quality support from our side.

The services are swift, and they cost only a nominal amount of money. So what are you waiting for? Visit us now and relieve the academic burden from your shoulders today!

Related Posts

comment 0 Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save Time & Excel Academics

Share your requirements & connect with top tutor !.

watch
question
We will use e-mail only for:

arrow Communication regarding your orders

arrow To send you invoices, and other billing info

arrow To provide you with information of offers and other benefits

loader
Add File

Files Missing!

Please upload all relevant files for quick & complete assistance.

2,181,808

Orders

4.9/5

Overall Rating

5,223

Experts

Still in Two Minds? The Proof is in Numbers!

Genuine Reviews With a Rating of 4.9/5.

student rating student rating student rating student rating student rating
29 Mar 2023

Sociology

Essay: 4 Pages, Deadline: 6 days

Good luck with your homework and get some good grades today Good luck with your homework and get some good grades today Good luck with your homework a ...

flag User ID: 5***72 Qatar

student rating student rating student rating student rating student rating
29 Mar 2023

Statistics

Programming: 1 Page, Deadline: 14 days

Product was delivered ahead of deadline! I am confident the grading will be exceedinly good. I will provide grade later.

flag User ID: 1***473 Afghanistan

student rating student rating student rating student rating student rating
29 Mar 2023

Tax

Programming: 3 Pages, Deadline: 3 days

Maybe because only one question is done from the expert . Properly If the expert done all. The mark could be higher than this

flag User ID: 8***42 Ireland

student rating student rating student rating student rating student rating
29 Mar 2023

Accounting

Essay: 6 Pages, Deadline: 8 days

Excellent work and they finished before died line, you depend on them any time. Thanks to all of you.

flag User ID: 5***26 Australia

student rating student rating student rating student rating student rating
29 Mar 2023

Management

Assignment: 6 Pages, Deadline: 10 days

I have passed but I was thinking about at least 60 marks. But thanks. Was on time and with correct core text this time ;)

flag User ID: 1***215 Great Britain

student rating student rating student rating student rating student rating
29 Mar 2023

Networking

Programming: 2 Pages, Deadline: 4 days

work was good and structure was good but some of things not relevant to topic or not up to the mark

flag User ID: 1***709 Australia

student rating student rating student rating student rating student rating
29 Mar 2023

Management

Assignment: 5.6 Pages, Deadline: 8 days

It was ok. Average mark received. Expected HD in this assignment. Hopefully in the next assignment you will do a better job.

flag User ID: 7***45 Australia

student rating student rating student rating student rating student rating
29 Mar 2023

Management

Essay: 10 Pages, Deadline: 6 days

amazing work- I was really happy with the work delivered by the expert and and super happy

flag User ID: 2***03 Australia

student rating student rating student rating student rating student rating
29 Mar 2023

Networking

Programming: 4.8 Pages, Deadline: 8 days

Thanks for the work and we hope to get support like this going forward as well..

flag User ID: 2***42 Australia

student rating student rating student rating student rating student rating
29 Mar 2023

Operations

Programming: 1 Page, Deadline: 3 days

Really good work and worked with me to review and make changes according to my choice. Really appreciate the work!

flag User ID: 1***269 Canada

student rating student rating student rating student rating student rating
28 Mar 2023

Statistics

Programming: 1 Page, Deadline: 3 days

Everything was correct. I was able to figure out my program and turn it in on time.

flag User ID: 1***697 United States

student rating student rating student rating student rating student rating
28 Mar 2023

Nursing

Essay: 3 Pages, Deadline: 10 days

I got a good mark in the formative assignment. Feedback from the professor was really good.

flag User ID: 1***17 Singapore

student rating student rating student rating student rating student rating
28 Mar 2023

Geography

Assignment: 15.6 Pages, Deadline: 30 days

I have submitted it for review and I believe it's perfectly done, I will recommend everyone to this company for a good job.

flag User ID: 9***46 Great Britain

student rating student rating student rating student rating student rating
28 Mar 2023

Management

Essay: 8 Pages, Deadline: 14 days

I am very happy with my assignment. thank you experts who work on it really appreciate the work.

flag User ID: 1***962 Singapore

student rating student rating student rating student rating student rating
28 Mar 2023

Healthcare

Case Study: 6 Pages, Deadline: 2 days

Passed the subject. Good work on my assignment. Thanks for the timely delivery. I will surely recommend this service in future to my fellow students.

flag User ID: 9***64 Australia

student rating student rating student rating student rating student rating
28 Mar 2023

It Write Up

Thesis: 8 Pages, Deadline: 4 days

All the information and research in literature review are relevant and citations are appropriate as well. A clear idea of problem analysis and good e ...

flag User ID: 4***86 Australia

student rating student rating student rating student rating student rating
28 Mar 2023

Management

Programming: 1.6 Pages, Deadline: 3 days

Work was good but I got 68.I am happy with the mark but make sure you read the requirement properly.

flag User ID: 1***988 Australia

student rating student rating student rating student rating student rating
28 Mar 2023

Management

Essay: 8 Pages, Deadline: 4 days

the assignment was well written and well constructed. I have questions about the articles that were chosen

flag User ID: 1***258 Australia

student rating student rating student rating student rating student rating
27 Mar 2023

Management

Home Work: 4 Pages, Deadline: 3 hours

Fixed the assignment based on my requirements in a timely fashion. Very pleased with the work

flag User ID: 1***369 United States

student rating student rating student rating student rating student rating
27 Mar 2023

Programing

Dissertation: 6 Pages, Deadline: 2 days

Well done, the speed and quality I am happy to be working with this team. I will refer to all my friends

flag User ID: 8***92 Ireland

icon

5% Cashback

On APP - grab it while it lasts!

Download app now (or) Scan the QR code

*Offer eligible for first 3 orders ordered through app!

screener
ribbon
Have any Query?