A Rose For Em Analysis Essay examples

Submitted By 5later
Words: 609
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Nic Slater
October 1, 2013
Lit
Prof. O’hare
A Rose For Emily

The story “A Rose For Emily,” by William Faulkner is a story where the reader is introduced to an old woman named Emily. The story takes place in the early nineteen hundreds and begins in the town of Jefferson, where the reader finds out about Emily’s death. Furthermore, this story is told by an unknown narrator, which gives the reader a sense of suspense and curiosity. Also, beginning a story with description of the main characters death only adds to the story’s mystery. Faulkner uses imagery, symbolism, and foreshadowing to help the reader better understand the order of events in which he illustrates.
Faulkner uses imagery frequently throughout the story, which gives the characters a sense of life and color, almost as if the reader is able to physically see what he is reading. The way that Faulkner describes the house as old, decaying, and lacking love, describes Emily the same way, showing the reader that Emily and the house are the same. They both were beautiful, but now they are old and worn down. He uses the image of a shadow; a symbol for something mysterious and unknown, to hide whom the narrator really is.
Another way that Faulkner gives life to the characters in this story is through symbolism. Symbolism is when one thing is used to represents another. Faulkner uses symbolism when he describes Emily’s house. Faulkner states, “It was big, squarish frame house that had once been white, decorated with cupolas and spires and scrolled balconies in the heavily lightsome style.” This quote gives the reader a vivid image of the house when Emily was a young girl and how it is now, but this quote has a whole other meaning. Faulkner uses this quote to represent Emily and how in the beginning of the story, she was a little girl full of life, and then at the end of the story she ages into a lonely woman. The house further symbolizes Emily because as a young girl, she had a nice house and came from money; however, after her father past away, she lost all the meaning in her life, and she, just like the house, became old and worn down. The authors use of symbolism helps connect the house with Emily’s life.
A third device that Faulkner uses in this story is foreshadowing. Faulkner gives several examples of