Reaction Paper - a Rose for Emily

A Rose for This Story

Apryl Voner

ENG 125

September 2, 2011

Dr. Vanessa Holmes

A Rose for This Story

It shocked me. It appalled me. It frightened me. My reaction to the short story “A Rose for Emily,” as written by William Faulkner, takes on many forms. Faulkner tells the story of a woman, our protagonist Emily Grierson, whose life started before the twentieth century (Faulkner, 1996, p.183) .

He kept me on the edge of my seat. Emily and her manservant alone were allowed to see “it”. She kept closing herself off. Her suitor, Herman Barron, had been missing. We wanted the manservant to break the seal and tell us the answers many questions.

Another facet of her personality was shown in the description of her paying her taxes (Faulkner, 1996, p183). This described her as stubborn: once her decision is made, there will be no moving her. And what happened to Colonel Sartoris. It says that he died, but it is possible Emily or an earlier Grierson woman had a hand in his demise.

“A Rose for Emily” teaches that if one person hurts another in secret, the one hurt can retaliate in that secrecy. This is theme. With murder the kernel of the theme, it expands to the above for the full theme. (About.com, 2011)

Personal experience has let me know this to be true. Taking this to the point of slow murder and unnecessary murder was part of my theme. To give this in return was identified as doing someone dirty’ because it is ‘dirty’ to hurt someone in a sneaky manner. I had dated a man who swore to me his fidelity. This was something I did not ask for but welcomed. When it was learned that he was not being faithful, my reaction was to remind him slowly by my actions that I had made no such promise of fidelity to him. His seeing me with other men ‘killed’ him a little. Not long after, our romantic relationship was over.

From the tale, I could infer that Emily believed that Homer Barron was one a certain quality man, and as it turned out, he was not. As this...