A Rose for Emily written by William Faulkner can be evaluated in anthropology, action and moral. By reading these specific principles the story can be easily understood. Gender was demonstrated throughout the novel by the author being in favor of men. Action was demonstrated through Emily learning to cope with the death of her father. The moral was demonstrated through the setting of the story which gave a better understanding of why Emily did not want to change.
An aspect that can be found by reading “A Rose for Emily” is gender. The story begins at the funeral of Emily Grierson. Throughout the story the author portrays the male gender as more superior. “The men through a sort of respectful affection for a fallen monument, the women mostly out of curiosity to see the inside of her house” (1). This clearly states that the only reason women went to her funeral was to be nosy. The men were there to pay their respects and they take this matter very seriously. The women wanted to know what was so special about her house that she never left. This shows that Emily was anti-social and never had anyone over at her house. As the story continues Faulkner includes another idea to represent that men are more intelligent than women. “Only a man of Colonel Sartoris’ generation and thought could have invented it and only a woman could have believed it” (1). Anyone can conclude from this sentence that women can not to anything for themselves. Women only think of things but do not have the intelligence to invent it. Faulkner goes along with the stereotype that men are better than women.
Another aspect that can be found in “A Rose for Emily” is action. Her reaction to death was the main action throughout the story. The death of her father is hard to deal with; she doesn’t want to believe that her father is gone. He has been the one to protect her since she was born. He was the one that did not allow her to go out. When townspeople came to pay their respects she said to them that her father was not dead. She did not want to accept the fact that he was dead. “She did that for three days, with the ministers calling on her, and the doctors trying to persuade her to let them dispose of the body” (3). She does not know how to live without her dad. She did not want him to leave because she did not want to feel lonely and depressed. I can relate to this part of the story because when I was younger, my father was in a serious motorcycle accident and I was scared. I would not want to imagine my life without my father because I know I would do anything to keep him alive. I didn’t know what was going to happen and this is how Emily was feeling. She had nothing to live for; she gave her dad all of her attention. She thought she would not be able to make any relationship with anybody. Homer Barron was the one Emily thought was for her. It is obvious that Homer was poisoned by Emily. “The body had apparently once lain in the attitude of an embrace, but now the long sleep that outlasts love, that conquers even the grimace of love, had cuckolded him” (7). Emily’s insecurity made her feel the need for someone to be there for her. She needed someone to take the place of her father. She was so used to her father’s rules that without him she was incomplete. I can relate to this when my boyfriend and I broke up. I felt incomplete and that no one else was going to be there for me. I remembered how he told me he would always be here for me and sooner than I thought, he came back to me. While Homer was alive she felt that he would leave her for work and that she was not good enough. She thought that if she poisoned him he would always be there for her and she didn’t have to worry about him being with anybody else.
A Rose for Emily takes place in a southern town. The setting affected the moral of the story. Emily was not in favor of change. Emily was a beautiful person just like her house. She was eventually abandoned by her father who did not allow her to do anything. Emily's depressing emotions was rubbing off on her house causing it to become gross "It was a big, squarish frame house that had once been white, decorated with cupolas and spires and scrolled balconies in the heavily lightsome style of the seventies, set on what had once been a select street. But garages and cotton gins had encroached and obliterated even the august names of that neighborhood; only Miss Emily's house was left, lifting its stubborn and coquettish decay above the cotton wagons and the gasoline pumps-an eyesore among eyesores."(1). Emily was plain ol' boring person. The author convinces the readers for her to be old fashioned. When the Board of Aldermen came to accuse her of refusing to pay her taxes they were in a dusty dark place. "When they sat, a faint dust rose sluggishly about their thighs, spinning with slow motes in the single sun-ray"(2). Emily was against change, she wanted to continue her old ways. She was too attached to her father that when he died she could not do anything else. She was becoming irresponsible and letting all of her problems overcome her.
In conclusion A Rose of Emily can be evaluated in anthropology, action and moral. In conclusion Faulkner portrayed the male gender as superior. Emily’s actions made her the person she is throughout the story due to her father. The moral was clearly evaluated through the setting of the story. The setting contributed to the Emily’s decisions as it has been explained. Overall, Emily was a lonely person and her surroundings affected the person that she is.