My
initial reaction to A Rose for Emily was
shock mixed with a little confusion. It took some going back and reading for me
to fully understand the whole short story.
Through
the use of compelling irony, Faulkner revealed his interpretation of the
desperation of women looking for love. Faulkner writes about Emily’s early life
with her father before he died. She lived a life where he ruled her and
everything she did, even when it came to courting a husband. So when he died,
and she lost the only man she ever loved, she was in ruins. After meeting Homer
Barron and feeling love for a man again, Emily was ready to get married and
start a family. But when she learned Homer was leaving her, she couldn’t bear
losing another chance at love and family. So instead of letting him go as
expected, she murdered him and kept his deceased body, which she slept next to
for some time, until the day of her death. In a sense, she wanted to control
the situation instead of just letting love walk out the door, as it happened
with her father.
This
story was a little confusing to me, I understand the whole concept of the
story, but the question that still liners in my mind is the relevance of the
tax situation told in the beginning of the story.
