symbolism

By: Shelly Roma E-mail: Romanoshelly@aol.com American Lit. November 13, 2000 Symbolism of Decay In "A Rose for Emily," Faulkner uses the elements of time and setting to foreshadow Emily Grierson’’s decay of life, physically and mentally. By avoiding the chronological order of events of Miss Emily's life, Faulkner first gives the reader a finished puzzle, and then allows the reader to examine this puzzle piece by piece, step by step. By doing so, he …

…they had danced with her and courted her perhaps, confusing time with its mathematical progression (V.1553). These men have lost their sense of time as well as Miss Emily. They hallucinate; they imagine things, which never occurred; there is no sense of time in their minds. Faulkner presents a very horrifying picture in this story, and he does this by playing with the chronology, using symbols and foreshadowing and presenting a detailed setting. Word Count: 1458