A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner - Book Report/Review Example

The story was interesting enough that it could be scrutinized in dimensional values. One of these was through its various thematic grounds. One of the possible yet affirming themes of the story could be about security. Emily, even an aristocrat, grew up and being fixated to be dependent on masculine presence involved with her. Faulkner described Emily to be dependent on her father during her early years. Upon the absence of the presence of the father in the story, she then had been become very dependent on her lover, Homer Barron.

She had been become excessively dependent with Baron, to the point of keeping his corpse and sleeping beside him in that state. This behavior of Emily emphasized the theme of security, of inability to let go whom she thought could provide her protection. Another apparent scene in the story that highlighted the thematic ground of security was the part when she was questioned about taxes during the meeting with the Board of Alderman. Unaware with the sense of time, Emily was insisting to refer to their queries with her tax exemption with the late Colonel Cantoris then.

In there, she could be implying in using the protection she could get from the identification or status of Colonel Santoris. It could also refer to her referral in the previous tax negotiation her father done to Colonel Santoris. Either of the two, it still boiled down about the matter of security, Emily's personal issue. Another theme that the story could be discussed with is death. This theme is perceptible even during the opening of the story, as it opened in the funeral of Emily. It is prevalent in the physical description in prose and in suggestive literary details that are perceptible in its message.

In summing it all, there are five deaths told in the story. This is only in the figurative and physical references of the theme. The theme of death in deeper literary details of the story could be the death of a superficial facade those townspeople viewed Emily during her existence. Another theme that the story has could be about love. Emily, with her stern affection to his lover Homer, had able to sleep even beside his corpse. She also kept within the premise her father's corpse whom she dearly loved.

Love was also evident in the message of the narrator of the story, describing the townspeople's feelings towards Emily in her burial. The narrator stated that "our whole town went to her funeral: the men through a sort of respectful affection for a fallen monument". Perhaps these three thematic grounds attributed to the richness of this Faulkner's short story, aside from its uniqueness in executing some of the literary elements within.