William Faulkner’s work often showcases the changing times in southern society, and no story does this more effectively or more compactly than his short story “A Rose for Emily.” In this story, obsolete ideas and traditions from pre-Civil War days clash with the more modern ways of the New South. We see this exemplified in the story of Miss Emily Greirson, the remaining member of an aristocratic family that once embodied the glory days of the Old South.
The Old South is represented by Miss Emily herself and in the once-grand house she still inhabits. Once ornate and pristine, the house has fallen into decay, representing the crumbling of the Old South. As the remaining member of the Greirson family and the social status associated with it, Miss Emily too is a representative of a time and place that no longer exist. The world has moved on, but Miss Emily and her home have not. The best example of this is the tax bills she continually ignores, claiming an exemption granted by a former mayor of the city who has long been dead.
Another example is Miss Emily’s beau, a young laborer from the North who comes to make changes to the town. Surprising everyone, Miss Emily becomes infatuated with Homer Barron, but this unlikely pairing is eventually doomed, suggesting once again the clash of the Old South and the New. It is not until the end of the story that we learn that Homer Barron has remained – a corpse – in an upstairs bedroom of Miss Emily’s home. Furthermore, evidence suggests that Miss Emily has lain by his side the whole time. Not able to reconcile the Old South with the New, she remained imprisoned in her decaying home with the decaying body of her lover, until they were ultimately united in death.
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