a rose for emily by william faulkner summary

What is the main message of A Rose for Emily? – The theme of “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner is that people should let go of the past, moving on with the present so that they can prepare to welcome their future. Emily was the proof of a person who always lived on the shadow of the past; she clung into it and was afraid of changing.

What happened in the end of A Rose for Emily? – The ending of the story emphasizes the length of time Miss Emily must have slept with her dead lover: long enough for the townspeople to find “a long strand of iron-gray hair” lying on the pillow next to “what was left of him, rotted beneath what was left of the nightshirt” and displaying a “profound and fleshless grin …

Why did Emily keep her father’s body? – She told them that her father was not dead.” Emily could not let go of him, so she keeps his dead body in her house. This same thing happens with Homer.

What does the rose in A Rose for Emily symbolize? – However, the title itself is symbolic. The rose represents the idea of love since young lovers often give each other roses to express their affections. With so many suitors in her youth, it seems inevitable that Emily will accept a rose from one of them, but she never does.

What does Emily’s house symbolize? – Emily’s house also represents alienation, mental illness, and death. It is a shrine to the living past, and the sealed upstairs bedroom is her macabre trophy room where she preserves the man she would not allow to leave her.