THE
DEATH MOTIF
in
WILLIAM FAULKNER’S
“A ROSE FOR EMILY”
“MISS EMILY GRIERSON DIED”
AGE 74, JEFFERSON
FAULKNER’S OXFORD,
MISSISSIPPI HOME
“WHAT HAD
ONCE BEEN
OUR MOST
SELECT
STREET”
URBAN DECAY:
“AN EYESORE
AMONG
EYESORES”
“THE RANK
and
ANONYMOUS
GRAVES … AT
THE BATTLE
OF
JEFFRERSON”
CIVIL WAR CEMETERY
MISSISSIPPI VETERAN of CIVIL WAR
“FLOWING CALLIGRAPHY IN FADED INK”
“THE OLD NEGRO”
and SYMBOLS
of the
OLD SOUTH
MID-1800’s VICTORIAN FURNITURE: SETTE,
PARLOR CHAIRS, LEATHER COACH
WITH “A CLOSE, DANK SMELL”
“LIKE A BODY LONG SUBMERGED IN MOTIONLESS
WATER, AND OF THAT PALLID HUE”
“THE
SMELL”
HER BED, LIKE a COFFIN
WAITS: “A HEAVY WALNUT
BED WITH A CURTAIN”
THE “BRIDAL” BED
“OF FADED ROSE COLOR”
“THE MAN HIMSELF
LAY IN THE BED.”
LEVELS
of
MEANING
in
“A ROSE for
EMILY”
PERSONAL/INDIVIDUAL
HISTORICAL/PAST
FAMILY
SOCIETAL:
TOWN=FAMILY
Faulkner’s Oxford,
Mississippi HOME
TOWN
REFLEXIVE/LITERARY
A LITERARY ROSE
The Zombies – “A Rose For Emily”
• The summer is here at last
The sky is overcast
And no one brings a rose for Emily
She watches her flowers grow
While lovers come and go
To give each other roses from her
tree
But not a rose for Emily...
Emily, can't you see
There's nothing you can do?
There's loving everywhere
But none for you...
Her roses are fading now
She keeps her pride somehow
That's all she has protecting her
from pain
• And as the years go by
She will grow old and die
The roses in her garden fade away
Not one left for her grave
Not a rose for Emily...
Emily, can't you see
There's nothing you can do?
There's loving everywhere
But none for you...
Her roses are fading now
She keeps her pride somehow
That's all she has protecting her
from pain
And as the years go by
She will grow old and die
The roses in her garden fade away
Not one left for her grave
Not a rose for Emily
The DEATH Motif in Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily”
Alexandria, Va. Soldiers'
Cemetery
THE DEATH MOTIF in
WILLIAM FAULKNER’S “A ROSE FOR EMILY”
THE
DEATH MOTIF
IN
WILLIAM FAULKNER’S
“A ROSE FOR EMILY”
THE
riersons
ROSE TV
ROSE
TV
ROSE TV
ROSE
TV