How Does Faulkner Use Irony In A Rose For Emily

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William Faulkner uses irony to communicate the theme in “A Rose for Emily” written in the 1930's through his use of dialogue and plot. Irony is a “figure of speech in which words are used in such a way that their intended meaning is different from the actual meaning of the words”. Whereas, the theme is the “central idea of a story”. Even though this story is not chronologically in order, Faulkner was not in a rush to write it and has a controlled pace, that makes you appreciate the author’s efforts to understand what the story is about. Miss Emily was an independent women that could not be controlled by any man and lived her life the way she wanted, no matter what the town thought. The main themes portrayed in this story are isolation, death,…show more content…
Her father was highly protected over her and would get rid of any man that would try to get close to her because he felt no man was good enough for Emily. The first irony that plays a role in “A Rose for Emily” is when the mayor, Cornel Sartoris tells Emily that she does not have to pay taxes in the town of Jefferson. However, when a new city council appears, they make her pay her taxes. When Emily would not pay her taxes because Cornel Sartoris said she did not need to, “they called a special meeting of the Board of Alderman”. She tells them to talk to Cornel Sartoris but he died 10 years before. Since Emily isolated herself from the town, she is unaware of the events that have taken place and does not want to acknowledge that time has…show more content…
As the ladies say, he is a common day laborer who works for a living. On Sunday afternoons, he is seen riding in a carriage with Emily and is surprised that she has stooped to a level of a day laborer. They feel sorry for her. Emily was considered a “noblesse oblige” by the elderly and could not believe she would consider marrying a northerner. However, the townspeople were happy that at least Emily found someone to marry without her father’s constant control. Emily may have thought that if the romance was going somewhere or was not, then she would be unhappy. When Emily bought the arsenic, many townspeople thought she wanted to kill herself if Homer Baron left her but that is not the case. The townspeople see that she “ordered a man's toilet set in silver, with the letters H. B. on each piece and a complete outfit of men's clothing, including a nightshirt” so she must be married. However, Homer Barron was not seen for six months after they were married so the townsfolk assumed he left Emily so she isolated herself in the house. At the end of the story, when Emily dies, the townspeople go to Emily’s house after her funeral and discovered a dusty room that looked like a bridal room. The author describes the room like it was for a first night of a married couple and there, the
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