A Rose for Emily

What do you think the title of the story "A Rose for Emily" means?

The title of "A Rose for Emily" refers to the traditional flower given to represent romantic love. Emily never got that love, and never really got given those symbols that would indicate it. That's part of what soured her on life and love, and made her want to seize a loved one…even if it meant killing him.You can see references to "rose" in the final section—large portions of the  sick bedroom are rose-colored. Faulker also uses the verb "rose" other places in the story: the dust rose, and the townspeople rose. I don't think this is an accident. The first shows her passing; the second shows the respect she is given instead of love.

Flowers are given usually given to celebrate occasions. In this case the occasion celebrated is death.

Everything in life dies and eventually the rose will die and unite with Emily.

The rose in the title can be interpreted several ways. The rose is most often thought of as a symbol for love in which case Homer is the "rose" or love for Emily.  Her father thought no man was good enough for her or for the Grierson family.  Therefore she was never able to experience passion or the rose of love until she met Homer.  However, there is another meaning of rose to consider.  In Medieval times the rose was used as a sign of silence or secrecy.  A rose was hung from the ceiling at a meeting of secret societies indicating a demand for discretion.  The rose in the title of the story could therefore stand for Emily's secret; that is Homer her "rose" whom she cherished, loved and kept to herself even after his body was corrupted by the decay of time.