A Rose for Emily

1) I had completely forgotten about this story because I hadn't read it since my sophomore year of high school. And even then, I'm not 100% sure if I read the entire thing. There were two words that stuck out to me the most because I remember my teacher beating their definitions into my head. "Macabre" and "Cuckold". I remember these words so distinctly because their meanings added such another depth to the story. I remember after learning the meaning of "macabre" I thought it was such a dramatic word for a short story. Almost too dramatic for the story. Going by definition I just didn't understand why the old ladies at the funeral were described as if they were making hissing noises (sibilant) and gruesome. Did I miss the point? I just don't know.

2) The author foreshadows the ending of the stories in a few ways. First of all, the reader can already tell that there is something a little different about Miss Emily because she has no concept of time. She has no idea that so much time has gone by since Colonel Sartoris has passed on. She has no concept of the generations changing or the times changing with them. There is also the foreshadowing of the death of Homer Barron. The foreshadowing of his death is when she is in the store buying the poison and refuses to tell the druggist what it's for. But even moreso than that, when she opens the box, it is labeled "For rats". This is alluding to Mr. Barron and his scandelous way of living, because Emily, being an Episcopal, would clearly think that his lifestyle choice is disgusting, like a rat, therefore he must die, like a rat. Although the title does not specify what color the "Rose for Emily" is, when researched, the meaning of a rose, especially a single rose, is love. Throughout the entire story, Faulkner strings in the fact that the entire town wants Emily to get married, they want her to be with someone. So from the beginning, the reader gets the impression that there may be a happy ending for her, that she may find her love. Unfortunately, she found her love, he just didn't love her back. Therefore she had to force him into a state of submission where her love could be actualized, even if it meant she had to lay with a dead man.