Analysis of Literary devices in William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily”
...the past and destroyed any chances of progress. Faulkner uses symbolism, foreshadowing, and exposition to support this idea. Before the beginning of the civil war, the south was a place of wealth, social structure and tradition. After the war most of the wealth had disappeared, but the traditions and social structure remained intact. Faulkner uses the relationship between the townspeople and Miss Emily to symbolize the tradition and social structure that was the Old South. “Alive Miss Emily had been a tradition, a duty, and a care; a sort of hereditary obligation upon the town,” when the mayor at the time remitted Miss Emily from paying her taxes (Faulkner 102). Although the city council found Miss Emily guilty of tax evasion, they were unwilling to prosecute her. The city council was to represent change and a new beginning for the south. Change was slow to come however; old traditions are hard to break. The upper class of the old south lived by a separate set of rules. Foreshadowing is used throughout to help the reader understand the ending, why it is significant, and how it affects the underling symbolism of the story. One example of foreshadowing the author uses is the mention of the poison, “I want some poison, she said to the druggist…the druggist named several….Arsenic, Miss Emily said…I want arsenic” (Faulkner 105). When Emily wishes to purchase the arsenic, she is required by law to reveal what she intends to do with the poison. Even though she refuses, the druggist allows her to buy it anyway. It’s not until later that he realizes what the poison is used for. The fact that she received the poison with out revealing her intent was common practice among the wealthy. Traditionally, the wealthy went through life without being questioned, especially by the lower class. The poison in this case represents the old south,...