An old lady lived a pathetic life with little happiness and then died alone, just her, her servant, and her dust-covered house. That was my immediate impression upon reading this short story. But upon further thought, I realized that Faulkner had not written a mere social commentary, but a horror story. I reviewed the story, putting the pieces together. First, Emily’s father dies leaving her depressed. Second, she falls in love with Homer Barron, but he appears to be losing interest. Third, she purchases some arsenic with no explanation. Fourth, Homer disappears and Emily rarely, if ever, leaves her house. Finally, after her death, investigators find what she made into a bridal room, complete with her dead lover on a bed. The pillow next to his head is indented and upon it rests one of Emily’s hairs.
She poisoned her man with arsenic. And then stuck his body in a room where she would lay next to it. This is not normal, and rather disturbing – and thus it is a horror story.
I thoroughly enjoyed Faulkner’s visual descriptions. He described Miss Emily as “bloated, like a body long submerged in motionless water….her eyes, lost in the fatty ridges of her face”. Latter, when purchasing the arsenic, she stared “with cold, haughty black eyes in a face the flesh of which was strained across the temples and about the eye sockets as you imagine a lighthouse keeper’s face ought to look”. Faulkner’s word choice and descriptions create a marvelous mood and leave little space for the reader to even remotely desire the company of Miss Emily.
Throughout my reading I was trying to figure out the title’s meaning. There is no rose in the story, although the word “rose” is used several times, both as a verb and an adjective. Eventually I decided that the story itself is like a rose for Emily. Faulkner’s story is a sign of pity for a dead woman, a tribute to her life – despite how pathetic it was. The story is a sympathetic rose for a woman who lived a tragic life.
This was a very thought-provoking article. I have always found this short story to be disturbing, and have never had the desire to read this. Even when my grade depended on it. But I did like the insight that you provided about the fact that Miss Emily was just a messed up old woman who had no idea how a normal person would function. Also, when you mentioned that the title was such named as a tribute to Miss Emily, I had never thought about that before. In fact, I had never previously thought about the fact that a flower is never mentioned. So to me the idea that this story is a tribute makes sense, and I am grateful for the new perspective about this (disgusting) story.
ReplyDeleteIt does seem like a horror story, but isn't the point of this article to tell us how it is not a horror story?
ReplyDeleteInteresting thought on what the title means. I'd never really thought much about it but it's intriguing
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