Essay on “A Rose for Emily” by W. Faulkner story analysis

“A Rose for Emily” by W. Faulkner story analysis
The story by William Faulkner “A Rose for Emily” we can clearly see the reflection of those historical events which took place in the USA of the beginning of the XX century. The First World War enacted great influence on the minds of regular Americans. The USA grew prosperous out of war need of European countries. Thus, it was able to further develop its industry and economy as a whole. That enormous influx of money resulted in “The Roaring Twenties”, as they were called – an epoch, in which material gain, luxury and want for pleasures got to its focal point. People thought that such state of extreme wealth could last forever. Unfortunately, it was not so. The economic crisis, which ended that era of prosperity, was crashing. The overdeveloped industry produced goods in excess, people started to take much more loans, which with the increasing inflation and unoccupied rates caused panic and depression. This period came to be known as “Great Depression”. The banks crumbled, the price on lands (especially in urban areas) soared high. Combined with continuous droughts, which effected harvest of crops, it all created the general feeling of decay. Especially it was evident in the South, which had little industry and depended on cotton and tobacco harvest to survive.
In his story, author tried to picture such decay on the example of one Southern town, Jeferson, and one woman, Emily. She was falsely accused by the previous mayor of that town in not paying her debt. At described times, it was not so unusual a case. As we were told in the story, Emily Grierson had a great-aunt, which had gone insane at the old age. So the author gives us a hint at Emily’s mental weakness. With the loss of her protective father and later her sweetheart, magnified by the general feeling of depression, her weak mind faltered because of grief. Her suffering resulted in horrid death of Homer Barron, her supposed husband. In her insanity she poisoned him on the marriage-bed.
While her father was still alive, the house was tended with care. It was situated on one of the best streets of Jeferson. With him died, the house came to decay swiftly. With the ageing Emily the house gradually lost its beauty and allure. As Emily’s body became bloated and her hair gray, similarly her house became gray with dust and forlorn, its luxurious insides not shown to anyone. So the sad story ends.