William Faulkner's short story, "A Rose for Emily" is a comparison of the past to the present. Emily is a picture of the past, a monument that had "fallen" in death. The town itself is the symbol of the next generation, with its more modern ideas. The story begins at the end of Emily's life. The narrator tells the story by connections, where one thought triggers another as opposed to a chronological viewpoint. When the narrator mentions Miss Emily as a sort of hereditary obligation it prompts the memory of the past when Colonel Sartoris remitted her taxes. As generations of alderman change, so do the town standards, and in attempt to collect these taxes, a dispute arises.
With this difference of opinion, we get our first indication of Emily's character. Her home was dimly lit and dusty with a damp smell. She was pale and obese. Her persona matched that of her dark house, as if she was mentally in some far off place. In the confrontation with the authorities, she simply states s
She reappeared once more for a period of six to seven years and taught china painting. She retreated again to her house, alone except for her manservant that went in and out with food baskets. The narrator returns to the beginning of his story, the funeral. After the funeral, the town opened a "room...above the stairs which no one had seen in forty years, and which would have to be forced."(1381) Finally, a long overdue question was answered, the whereabouts of Homer, "The man himself lay in the bed."(1381) Emily had been abandoned by her father and we are left to assume that she could not handle being left again. When she was threatened with abandonment and shame, she retreated behind closed doors and kept Homer with her via poison. A psychological approach to this story signifies the repressiveness one falls into when faced with the expectation of being alone. Emily did not deal well with change but instead embraced the past, became trapped in it, then died in it.
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