A literary Criticism of

A Rose for Emily

By: William Faulkner

According to Marxist criticism theory founded by Karl Marx, Marxism gives us

individuals a meaningful way to understand history and current events. The Marxism
theory focuses its attention on that real forces that creates human experiences are the
economic systems that structure human societies. This theory centers on the economic
realities of human culture so that it may understand it properly. Marxist believes that
getting and keeping economic power is the motive behind all social and political
activities such as education, philosophy, religion, and etc.
From the perspective of the Marxist Theory to the short story entitled A Rose for
Emily, we see how Emilys class, subsequent fall from affluence, and Tobes depressed
socioeconomic status all relate to prosperity and the class system. The Griesons family
belongs to Aristocratic and thinking that they are the last blood line of their ancestors.
Many of the actions in the story defines Emilys class, such as teaching china painting
(an action that is mostly frivolous, and concerning something only middle to upper-class
people had), and the way the town tries to protect her dignity as with how shes
referred to as a tradition, a duty, and a care. Even as Emilys financial situation
unfriendly, which lost her respect with people of her class and higher, everyone made a
point to maintain the citation of her status since the back then before, the traditions
reminds us that we can make a success of ourselves, but no one moves down in class.
If she could only lived being poor, the decision, way of thinking and actions are different
from what she had in her whole life.

Even Emily herself helped to preserve the image

of the rich stay rich, as she stayed at home more and more as she aged. She also
may have been trying to feel more like she was still a part of her born class, while
holding back some for fear of being seen as slumming, when it came to her public
relationship with Homer. He let her take her on carriage rides, as well as wine and dine
her, while trying to show how behaved and proper she was along with possibly

denying him formal commitment, due to him being of a lower class. And she was the
gossips of the neighbor and people in the town because of her unethical behavior of
having relationship to a lower class. They have been the issues and concerns especially
of the high-class people that their children see them and might be influenced when they
grow up. Before it was to believe that if you belong to class people, then you can only
mingle to the class people also. But in the case of Emily, because of being longing for
love, regardless with the social status in the society, she accepted Homer to be her
lover and she expected that Homer will marry her.
Another thing is that, the setting of the story is in South America. Emily had a black
servant named Tobe--- considering that hes the only black person in the story. This
helps to show the shape of society, and racism. Society at the time, and not just in the
South, was full of racist pressures for Tobe to keep his head down and serve, for
Emily to treat him the same as all other black people do. In the end, after all of Tobes
service, he remained silent about what happened and remained faithful to the one he
who served, being the witness of what happened to Emilys life. He accepted the
peoples perspective to him. Remained silent and gone forever, and of all he does
people ever see is him being barely considered by the town, and treated no better than
an object by Emily.

The Psychoanalytic Theory may be the most interesting way of accessing Emily
Grierson, due largely to how mentally disturbed she turned out to be. First, in looking at
Emilys issues, she exhibits a massive fear of abandonment. Not only does she try to
hold on to her fathers dead body, she does hold onto Homers. Also, her dependence
on Tobe may be connected to her fear of abandonment. Next, she was extensive with
denial. She seemed to deny Homers death (even though she killed him) in lying beside
his corpse. She denied that her father died, even by way of assuming some of his
personality traits. She denied that she could owe taxes. Also, she shows very
significant signs of an Elektra complex, in the way she clung to her father despite him
having been dominating of her and took an interest in another mans man, in Homer.
Finally, we see some imagery. The most obvious dream-related imagery is the bedroom
in which Homer was kept taking the usual place of a basement or attic, in being the
storage place of her issues and ill-deeds.
Lastly, theres Deconstruction as a means to analyze Emily, and A Rose for Emily.
Basically, the idea of the subject, deconstructed, is that this story shows the grim effects
of the way we dictate our culture and interactions. Tobe was a shadow, an ephemeral
entity who helped by did not speak, who was alluded to but was not immediately
activewho came into the story, and left the story, as silently and seamlessly. Homer
was Emilys coveted possession an object, or an ideal, she wants so much but is not
allowed to have. Emily is turmoil, uncertainty, and conflict within oneself and against
societal expectations. The story also portrays the comparison between the binary
hierarchies of new vs old, and sane vs insane.