"A Rose for Emily" and Her Lack of Hope

Paper Summary:

This paper examines how in "A Rose for Emily" by William Faulkner, Emily takes the life of her lover, Homer Barron, by poisoning him with arsenic. It evaluates how by doing so, she erases any hope that she has for getting married and having children. It looks at how most analysis of the work focus on Emily as a victim to explain her motives for murder. However it takes a more novel stance by emphasizing Emily's intelligence and ability to turn discrimination against the perpetrators.

From the Paper:

"Symbolism associated with description of a picture of Emily's father, "Miss Emily a slender figure in white in the background, her father a spraddled silhouette in the foreground, his back to her and clutching a horsewhip, the two of them framed by the back-flung front door" is highly illustrative of the lack of control in Emily's life. "A slender figure in white represents a vulnerable version and her position in the background signifies subordination. In contrast, Emily's father assumes the dominant position and the horsewhip denotes power and control. Her father's authoritarian nature, dominance and pride had destroyed her chances for marriage. Through the murder of Barron, Emily can be viewed as trying to take back control of her life. She's afraid that under Barron's hands she'll suffer the same repression that she encountered from her father."

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