Sumner 1

LeeAna Sumner
Mrs. Pettay
English 112; 2B
2 June 2015

A Rose for Emily Literary Analysis

William Faulkners A Rose for Emily is a post-civil war short story where the plot
takes place in a small town somewhere in the Deep South. Faulkners main character is Miss
Emily, a woman from a high class social back ground. While reading A Rose for Emily
relationships unfold between Miss Emily and the rest of the town folk, in particular men within
the town. It is not uncommon in the story to see men a focal point for the women. To better
understand the dynamic of the storys relationships, Faulkners A Rose for Emily must be read
by examining the characters, and towns, beliefs of womens dependency of men.
The first time Faulkner portrays a woman dependent on a man is in the very beginning of
the story, when it is revealed that Miss Emilys taxes had been remitted by the towns mayor,
Colonel Satoris. Colonel Satoris created an elaborate story about how Emilys father had loaned
money to the town and the town preferred to repay Miss Emily back by remitting her taxes.
Colonel Satoris felt the need to take care of Miss Emily after her father was no longer around to
do so. The mayor felt that Miss Emily was not capable of taking care of her own taxes and
decided instead he would just take care of them himself. This is a foreshadow for the rest of the
story. People elect persons into office due to their similar beliefs. If the mayor of the town

Sumner 3
believed that a woman is incapable of taking care of her own needs, then this is not an
uncommon belief from the rest of the townsfolk.
The town folk play a heavy part to the concept of woman dependency. It is through their
constant gossip that their true beliefs are revealed. In the beginning, after Miss Emilys father has
past, Miss Emily decides to spend some time alone away from the rest of the town. This is when
the gossip begins to start about how Miss Emily must becoming crazy because she decides to
live alone in a house without any male company besides her butler. Through the middle section
of the story a common trend for the town folk is to state a comment about Miss Emily to only
follow it up with Poor Emily. This seems to be their favorite catch phrase through the entire
story. To them Miss Emily is viewed as poor, which can also be synonymous with reduced, as
if Miss Emily herself has become reduced from her social hierarchy after the passing of her
father, the only male figure prevalent in her life at the time. As if without a male figure
dominating the house hold Miss Emily is considered little to nothing to the town. They continue
to go on gossiping like this until finally Miss Emily sparks a new love interest, Homer Barron.
Once Miss Emily and Homer are officially love interests, the town begins to believe she is no
longer going crazy. The town no longer gossips badly about Miss Emily, but instead begins to
become happy for her and Barron. Once Miss Emily brought a man into her life, and
eventually her home, the towns attitude completely changes. No longer in the story do we see
Poor Emily because once Barron dominated her life, and house, Miss Emily no longer needed
to be reduced by the town for she was now seen as valuable once again with a man by her side.
Unfortunately, Homer Barron leaves after a short time, again changing the towns
dynamic and attitude towards Miss Emily. Zijiao Song, a professor at the Changchun University
in China, did a Transitivity Analysis of A Rose for Emily. In his analysis he looked closely at

Sumner 3
Miss Emilys relationships as well as how the towns view of Miss Emily. After Barron had left
Miss Emily she still carried her head high enough--even when we [the town] believed that she
was fallen. In Songs analysis of the story words such as fallen begin to paint a clearer image
of how the town viewed Miss Emily without a male company. Song believes that the word
fallencan be understood as Emilys degeneration. At this point in the story after Barrons
disappearance Emily doesnt appear on the street for a long time. This is probably due to the
fact that Miss Emily knows the upcoming ridicule awaiting her from the town folk. In this point
of the story the phase poor Emily once again reappears, once again reducing Miss Emily from
her social hierarchy.
When reading A Rose for Emily through a feminist lens, the story is better understood.
The dynamic of the town is revealed and the concept of the Deep Souths belief of women
dependency is written all within the text. By examining Miss Emilys relationships the true story
unfolds revealing the idea that to be considered a true southern woman of high social class, a
woman must have a man in her life to be acknowledge as valuable.