A Rose for Emily Group

Question:

march
march
Student

Why does the author call the book, A Rose for Emily?

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Posted by march on Saturday January 27, 2007 at 6:31 PM and tagged with a rose for emily, theme.

Answers:


  1. a-b

    There is no one answer to this question, and different theories have arisen throughout the years.

    One story is that Faulkner wrote the story for a friend of his named Emily, and thus the story was a "Rose" for her (a gift, like the gift of a flower)

    Another idea is that Homer is Emily's Rose. Often people preserve roses, allowing them to decay and dry up even after they have died, just as Emily has done with Homer.

    Faulkner himself once said that the title came "from a picture of the strand of hair on the pillow", which is somewhat vague.

    That quote from Faulkner was found on the enotes page linked below and is from the book: Inge, M. Thomas, ed. William Faulkner: A Rose for Emily. Columbus, OH: Merrill, 1970.

    Sources:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Rose_for_Emily
    http://www.enotes.com/gothic-literature/faulkner-william/...

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    Posted by a-b on Monday January 29, 2007 at 2:52 PM

  2. revolution
    revolution Teacher
    Doctorate

    It could have been that Emily was her daughter/friend who had also died, the same as the character in the book so he shows his respect by giving her the flower so that's why the book is named that way

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    Posted by revolution on Wednesday July 22, 2009 at 4:12 AM