A Rose for Emily- Perspectives on Theme
...fuses to accept it for what it is and instead applies her own ideas of how she believes it should be. This early situation in “A Rose for Emily” is the first indication that perhaps Miss Emily is struggling to hold on to a past that is slowly fading away. William Faulkner uses a clever technique in structuring “A Rose for Emily” that may not be seen during the readers first examination. Faulkner starts the story by speaking about Miss Emily’s funeral and travels backwards through time to tell her story. Then, near the middle of the story, Faulkner begins to move back forward until he ends up back where he started, at Miss Emily’s funeral. Faulkner may have used this method to convey Miss Emily’s efforts to return to the past. She succeeds in stopping time for herself but it is obvious that she cannot completely conquer the advance of time. When it becomes a struggle for her to control time, which occurs when her father dies, Faulkner stops moving the story back through time and slowly begins to advance through the years. Although somewhat hidden in the structure of the story, this technique is integral to understanding the theme of the story. Another part of the story that further shows that Miss Emily is the personification of the Old South is her “employment” of a black servant named Tobe. It is not mentioned whether Tobe received pay for serving Miss Emily, but it can probably be assumed that he was just given lodging and “taken care of.” This is very similar to the slave system that existed in the South before the Civil War. It probably made Miss Emily comfortable to have a black servant, as it reminded her of a time that she obviously longed to return to. Miss Emily never left the house and just had Tobe do everything for her. Miss Emily holding on to a black servant was one of the few things that she succeeded retaining from pre-Civil War times. The people of Jefferson did not help Miss Emily cope with the changes of the present day. It even seemed as if the people of Jefferson were somewhat scared to help her. An example of this is the smell emanating from Miss Emily’s house. It was obvious that the smell was a problem because several complaints were filed regarding it, but neither the people nor the city officials had the courage to stand up to Miss Emily. When one man came to Judge Stevens and suggested that he give Miss Emily a notice, the Judge responded, “ Damnit, sir, will you accuse a lady to her face of smelling bad?” (Faulkner, 668) This was Judge Stevens’ way of avoiding conflict with Miss Emily. He was fully aware that she was stuck in the past and he knew that nothing he could say would make her do anything. Because of Miss Emily’s stubbornness, the people had to take it upon themselves to eliminate the smell without disturbing the timeless Miss Emily. When Miss Emily’s father died, she refused to have him buried for several days. Her father, and her old Victorian house where all that she had left from the Old South, so when her father died, she did not want to let go of half of her “possessions.” Her relationship with her father is only explained in a short segment stating “We had long thought of them as a tableau, Miss Emily a slender figure in white in the background, her father a straddled silhouette in the foreground, his back to her and clutching a horsewhip…”(Faulkner, 668) From this short fragment of information it can be deduced that Miss Emily’s father was a very powerful and impressionable man that most likely held typical Confederate beliefs. Miss Emily probably took after her father’s Old South attitude and was afraid to lose the person she learned from. Her denial of his death and refusal to let go of his body is symbolic of many post-Civil War Southerner’s refusals to let go of a culture that was quickly being replaced. After she finally broke down and let go of her father, Miss Emily became ill for a long time almost as if a part of her had been taken away, much like the culture of the South had been forcefully taken away from it. When Homer Barron came to Jefferson, he and Miss Emily began a relationship that was meant to end in tragedy. Homer Barron “a Yankee- a big dark ready man, with a big voice and eyes lighter than his face,”(669) represents the Yankee attitude towards the South and the present time period. Homer was the antithesis of Miss Emily. He was a Northerner, living in the moment and always the center of attention. Miss Emily on the other hand, desired for the past and chose to isolate herself from others. How these two came to have a relationship with each other is not explained, but nevertheless, the difference in their personalities is important. Miss Emily, in all her stubbornness, was rebelling against what she should do by having a relationship with a Northerner. This rebellion is synonymous with her rebellion against time, and the South’s rebellion against the United States of America. This is just a small part of the relationship that Homer Barron and Miss Emily shared. Homer had said himself “that he was not a marrying man,” (670) yet it was obvious that Miss Emily desired to marry him. Miss Emily’s failed attempts to entice him to marry her such as the purchases of the silver toilet and the men’s clothing, was enough to convince her that it was possible that he would leave her. This would be another “possession” that Miss Emily could lose and a major part of her personality included her difficulty in letting things go. When Homer left after the streets were finished, Miss Emily realized that she definitely would not have Homer forever. Her purchase of the rat poison is a bit of foreshadowing of her need to “preserve” her relationship with him. It was most likely shortly after his return that Miss Emily succeeded in making sure Homer Barron would not leave her. After the last sighting of Homer Barron, Miss Emily disappeared into her house for the rest of her life, with the exception of a few years that she gave lessons in china painting. This was many years after the end of the war and the “newer generation became the backbone and spirit of the town.” (671) This was too rapid a change for Miss Emily and she did not wish to...