Literary Analysis of Symbols inA Rose for Emily

林丹妮

By using symbols， ordinary stories are often given multi-layer meanings which cause abundantassociation.Faulkner makes best use of the symbolic technique in narration of this short story.Symbolssuch as the house， the pocket watch， the rose and so on playa key factor in A Rose for Emily. Accordingly， this essay will analyze these symbols to figure out their deeper meanings.

The House

Miss Emily's house is an important symbol in this story. For most of the story， we， like the townspeople， only see Miss Emily's house from the outside. In some sense， her house was a virtual prison because this house， with the corpse of Homer Barron rotting in an upstairs room， could never be shared with others. So the house is a huge symbol of Miss Emily's isolation. Furthermore， Faulkner used it in a variety of ways. He used the house to represent Emily herself， physically and emotionally， and he also used the house to represent the change in her social status. Then， used it to represent the passage of time from the old south， to the new south， and how Ms. Emily was lost in time. The description of the house at the beginning is as follows：

"It was a big， squarish frame house that had once been 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. But garages and cotton gins had encroached and obliterated even the august names of that neighborhood； only Miss Emily's house was left， lifting its stubborn and coquettish decay above the cotton wagons and the gasoline pumps – an eyesore among eyesores." （Faulkner 145）

As the narrator describes the house at the beginning as being lavish and beautiful， which could relate back to Ms. Emily when she was younger. She was full of youth and elegance， but when her father died， Ms. Emilys life took a turn for the worse. After her fathers death， Emily became more of shut in， which was reflected in the house. When she became old and ill， so did the house， it became dilapidated and faded， the inside covered in dust by the passage of time.

Not only does Faulkner use the house to show Emily's physical and mental state， but also he uses the house to show her fall from grace； an aristocrat， to an eccentric hermit. In the beginning of the story， “It was a big， squarish frame house that had once been white...select street.” The house was once in the towns most renowned street， which most likely housed other aristocrats. However， as time passed， the aristocrats of that neighborhood moved， and the street became rundown， as did her house. At this point， she was no longer the aristocrat of the town.

The conflict of the old south versus the new south was prevalent in the story. The house demonstrated this conflict. It stood as a monument to the old south. When the other houses were replaced with factories and garages， the old house stood steady going against the encroaching new south. Ms. Emily also refused the new south， when the town got free postal delivery， Miss Emily alone refused to fasten the metal numbers above her door and attach a mailbox to it. She would not listen to them.The house and Ms. Emily stood as symbols， that were not fazed by the new south. Instead， they became lost in time， living in the past.

The Pocket Watch

"A small fat women in black， with a thin gold chain descending to her waist and vanishing into her belt." （Faulkner 147）. When members of the Board of Aldermen visit Emily to see about the taxes a decade before her death， they hear her pocket watch ticking， hidden somewhere in the folds of her clothing and her body. This is a signal to us that for Miss Emily， time is both a mysterious "invisible" force， and one of which she has always been acutely aware. With each tick of the clock， her chance for happiness lessens， so the pocket watch vanishing into her belt shows her deliberate neglection of time， she is desperate to grasp time and refuses to wake from the illusion of living in the past.

The Hair

Another symbol is Emily's hair. The town tells time first by Emily's hair， For example， the author writes， " When we saw her again， 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" （Faulkner 149）. Then， the community tells time when Emily vanishes into her house， which is a little after her hair has turned "a vigorous iron-gray， like the hair of an active man" （Faulkner 152）. When the main character shuts herself inside of her house， the community judges time by using Tobe's hair. For instance， the author writes， "Daily， monthly， yearly we watched the Negro grow grayer and more stooped， going in and out with the market basket" （Faulkner 152）The strand of Emily's hair found on the pillow next to Homer， is a time-teller too， though precisely what time it tells is hard to say. The narrator tells us that Homer's final resting place had not been opened in 40 years， which is exactly how long Homer Barron has been missing. But， Emily's hair did not turn "iron-gray" until approximately 1898， several years after Homer's death.

Work Cited：

[1]Faulkner， William. Collected Stories，1950，New York： Random House.

[3]Liu Lili.Text Analysis of Foreign Classic Short Stories，2004，BeiJing： BeiJing University Press.

[4]Yuan Xianjun. Approaching Fiction，2004，Beijing： Peking University Press.

[5]Website ：https：//ww2.faulkner.edu/admin/websites/cwarmack/William%20Faulkner%20speaks%20on.pdf