She sets up the room as a bridal chamber for a wedding that will never take place, and then keeps her would-be groom – or his corpse, at any rate – inside the room, a symbol of her reluctance to let go of her romantic bond with him.
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.
Dealing with Odors
In the short story 'A Rose for Emily,' by William Faulkner, the unique smell that emanates from Emily's house represents something the townspeople in this old Southern town are not prepared to deal with.
Inside, among the gifts that Emily had bought for Homer, lies the decomposed corpse of Homer Barron on the bed. On the pillow beside him is the indentation of a head and a single strand of gray hair, indicating that Emily had slept with Homer's corpse.
Throughout this story about murder, Faulkner uses many symbols to represent a theme about leaving or breaking traditions. Among these symbols are the crayon portrait of Miss Emily's father, Emily's house, and the long strand of iron-gray hair that found on the pillow next to Homer's body.
Faulkner drew Emily as a symbol, specifically representing the Old South, and describing her as "a fallen monument" at her death. She had focused on the past, and her longtime traditions were paramount to her. She refused to adapt or welcome the new, younger townspeople or societal changes.
This something turned her house into a virtual prison – she had nowhere else to go but home, and this home, with the corpse of Homer Barron rotting in an upstairs room, this home could never be shared with others. The house is a huge symbol of Miss Emily's isolation.
Miss Emily suffers from schizophrenia because she shows symptoms of withdrawing from society. Throughout Emily's life, her aristocratic father the townspeople highly respected, kept Emily closed in believing no suitors are worthy enough for her.
The gray hair on the pillow indicates that she has been lying down on the bed, beside the corpse of her dead former fiance. There's also an indent in the pillow, which suggest that it wasn't a once-or-twice occurrence.
She was from an antebellum Southern aristocratic family. Emily seemed to have mental breakdown after her father, and then her potential lover, died. As Emily is a part of an antebellum family, she is likely not black. Additionally, her corpse is described as "pale and swollen."
In about 1925, Miss Emily dies. On the day of her funeral, the townspeople, including some old Civil War veterans, invade the house. Tobe leaves by the back door and is never seen again. One group breaks into a locked room upstairs and discovers the corpse of Homer Barron, which has moldered in the bed for forty years.
Even in death, Miss Emily cannot escape her father: "They held the funeral on the second day . . . with the crayon face of her father musing profoundly above the bier . . ." When the townspeople break into a locked room upstairs, they find carefully folded wedding clothes and Homer's remains.
Mr. Grierson, Emily's father, sets the tone for her narrative of solitude and control. He makes himself the central figure in Emily's life, chasing away her suitors with a horsewhip and exerting his influence over every aspect of their home - something that does not ebb after his death.
Sleeping with a pillow between your legs doesn't only signify that you put your comfort first, it may also mean that you are seeking safety in your life. This position also shows that you don't let your guards down easily and are an extremely sensitive person.
Later, after Homer Barron disappears into the Grierson house, Miss Emily is next seen with “iron-gray” hair, “like the hair of an active man.” First, like an iron helmet, the “iron-gray” hair suggests that Miss Emily has something to protect—and indeed she is protecting a dreadful secret: Homer's murder.
The men throughout the town were afraid of offending a woman especially one coming from a family like the Griersons'. For example, in the story they notice an awful smell coming from Miss Emily's home, but they don't know how to tell her without her being offended.
By examining Emily's behavior, her social relationships and the towns people lack of response, one can infer that Emily suffers from schizophrenia.
She eventually closes up the top floor of the house. Except for the occasional glimpse of her in the window, nothing is heard from her until her death at age seventy-four. Only the servant is seen going in and out of the house. In section V, the narrator describes what happens after Emily dies.
Faulkner once explained the reason for his choice of A Rose For Emily as the title, as well as his intention with rose: [The title] was an allegorical title; the meaning was, here was a woman who has had a tragedy, an irrevocable tragedy and nothing could be done about it, and I pitied her and this was a salute ... to ...
Death in the story, as it does in life, signifies the end of something. Emily's father's death ends her old way of life and the death of Emily herself symbolizes the end of deep southern tradition in the eyes of the townsfolk who call her a monument. Death also serves as a means to prevent change.
The old, once powerful elements in society resist change and attempt to maintain control. Emily Grierson symbolizes resistance to this decline. While her actions are certainly influenced by her insanity, she represents this attempt of the Old South to resist change and to maintain control.
Dust is not the only symbol of death in the story, however. Emily brings a skull and bones into her home when she buys the poison to kill Homer. This warning sign on the package of arsenic is a bit ironic, since Homer will literally be nothing but a skull and bones by the end of the narrative.
For example, Emily is compared to a fallen monument, a tradition, a duty, and an obligation. All of these metaphors describe how the town feels about this woman who represents an old way of doing things in the Confederacy and who has since been tolerated and treated as a responsibility rather than an endeared neighbor.
In ''A Rose for Emily,'' Faulkner uses several different types of figurative language, including metaphors, similes, alliteration, irony, personification, symbolism, and imagery, in order to deepen the audience's understanding of Emily Grierson, the town, and the plot.