Deep-rooted Tradition vs. Progress

Many of us struggle with change but none quite as much as old Southerners.  William Faulkner shines a light on the struggle with progress Emily Grierson, the protagonist in his short story A Rose for Emily, experiences throughout her life.  The battle between the Old and New South, a common thread in this genre, is a reoccurring theme in this work and is supported by its setting, narrator, and symbolism.

The setting supports the theme of Old vs. New in many ways.  This story takes place in an old Southern town.  The Grierson home was once a beautiful display of Civil war era architecture.  Time and progress now show a dilapidated two-story home void of care or love.  Progress is usually reflected in improvement and upgrading.  The unwillingness to move into the future has driven the home into disrepair.  The old is not bad but what is bad is not moving forward toward the future. 

The narrator is a towns person who seems to witness all the events, a very cliché aspect of a typical Southern town.  When I think of the South I can almost smell the fried chicken and see the old biddies sipping sweet tea while whispering to their neighbors on their front porch swings.  Southerners pride themselves in knowing everything about everyone.  This is yet another nod to the old way of thinking, acting, and reacting.  The town is influenced by the older generation.  No one begins to pity Emily until the older generation says so.  

Emily’s father is also a great representation of the Old South.  He is a dominate male figure who is convinced that no one is good enough for his precious daughter.  The hold he has on her is symbolic of the way Southerners hold to their traditions.  With his passing, Emily is finally free to try something new.  Homer Barron is that something new.  A loud mouth, play boy Northerner, Homer is seen escorting Miss Emily around town.  The fact that he is from the North warrants scandal.  The town cannot believe she would stoop so low as to be courted by such a person, yet another representation of old tradition.  It is evident that Homer does not long for a conventional relationship so when he disappears the town begins to pity Emily.  The fate of Homer is not discovered until the story’s end but Emily’s shame of trying to be more progressive proves too much for her.  Emily decides to bury herself in the past.