“Symbolism is a language or form of communication used to convey meaning through the use of symbols – whether that is through imagery, ideas, sound or metaphor…” (TokenRock). In literature, many things are represented through objects or characters, but in the world today, many things represent a whole different idea. For example, in the Shakespearian play Macbeth, any type of bird is a symbol of evil. However, in the United States of America, it is common knowledge that the Bald Eagle represents freedom. Symbolism is an idea used invariably, as used in the short story, “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner.
Emily Grierson, the main character in “A Rose for Emily”, is a mysterious old woman who has a high reputation in the town of Jefferson, Mississippi. As she grows up, her father thought of his family too high, and consequently Emily never married, as Faulkner noted “…the Griersons held themselves a little too high for what they really were.” It was not until Emily met Homer Barron, a northern Yankee, that the town’s people thought Emily was really…show more content… “The rose is most often thought of as a symbol for love in which case Homer is the ‘rose’ or love for Emily.”(Enotes). Emily meets Homer after her father’s death and makes it seem like they are in love. “When she meets Homer, it seems like she may finally have true love. That idea is preserved forever when she kills Homer just as a rose is preserved between the pages of a memory book and just as Homer’s corpse and her wedding say clothes are preserved in the room that she has sealed off in her home.” Emily’s whole life was controlled by her father, until he died. The title literally means “A (love) for Emily”. When she meets Homer, she went out with him making it obvious that she had found true love and since there were rumors about him “not being a marrying man” she kills him to “preserve” the love she