Question

Please help me with this question! How does the theme death shape the narrative of Faulkner's “A Rose for Emily”?

Explain briefly with examples.

Answer 1

Theme of Death in the novel A rose for Emily:

• ‘A Rose for Emily’ is a short story which is written by William Faulkner.
• The story revolves around Emily Grierson who is an old women and the novel illustrates love, compassion, death and a rose which symbolizes various emotions.
• The novel describes the death haunted life of Emily. She denies in the ultimate fact of death itself.
• When her father died, she couldn’t believe this and thus wasn’t ready to admit it.
• Apart from this, when Homer dies even that time she refuse to accept death.
• The novel is all about the fuse between life and death. Ultimately, death wins.

Answer 2

In the story "A Rose for Emily," Faulkner presents the story of a woman from the South called Emily. Emily as always dominated by her father, who did not allow her to live her own experiences. Moreover, she was fearful of change, and was unable to adapt to the New South after the war. These characteristics eventually led Emily to tragedy.

The story is, to a large extent, shaped by the idea of death. Emily's downfall begins with the death of her father, which left her completely alone and lost in the world. Emily herself is associated with death, as she is described as "a skeleton" and as "small and spare." Finally, the story is shaped by the death of Homer, providing another example of a death that Emily seems unable to get over.