"A Rose for Emily" is a short story by American author William Faulkner, first published on April 30, 1930, in an issue of The Forum.

It then proceeds in a non-linear fashion to the narrator's recollections of Emily's archaic, and increasingly strange, behavior throughout the years.

Although the reclusive Emily does not have a strong relationship with the town, she opens her home to give art lessons to local children, doing so out of need for an income.

Emily is seen in town buying wedding presents for Homer, including a monogrammed toilet set.

After he is observed entering Miss Emily's home one evening, Homer is never seen again, leading the townsfolk to believe he ran off.

Her reputation is such that the city council finds itself unable to confront her about a strong smell that has begun to emanate from the house.

The funeral is a large affair: Emily has become an institution, so her death sparks a great deal of curiosity about her reclusive nature and what remains of her house.

On the pillow beside him is the indentation of a head and a single strand of gray hair, indicating that Emily had slept with Homer's corpse.

The house is an indicator revealing how Emily struggled to keep everything the same, in a frozen time period, avoiding change.

[6] Her struggle with loss and attachment is the impetus for the plot, driving her to kill Homer Barron, the man assumed to have married her.

The story takes place in the South shortly after the Civil War, and while Homer is not necessarily unwelcome to the town, he does stand out.

While he is in the story very little, his decision to remit Emily's taxes leads to her refusal to pay them ever again, contributing to her stubborn personality.

His decision to ban all men from her life drives her to kill the first man she is attracted to and can be with, Homer Barron, to keep him with her permanently.

By telling the story out of order, the reader sees Emily as a tragic product of her environment rather than a twisted necrophiliac.

"A Rose for Emily" discusses many dark themes that characterized the Old South and Southern Gothic fiction.

Once her father had passed, Emily, in denial, refused to give his corpse up for burial—this shows her inability to functionally adapt to change.

When the present mayor and aldermen insist Miss Emily pay the taxes which she had been exempted from, she refuses and continues to live in her house.

Emily continuing to sleep next to Homer's body can be seen as the South holding on to an ideal that is no longer feasible.

Emily falls victim to the ruling hand of her father and her place in the society: she has to uphold the noblesse oblige into which she was born.

After her father dies, she keeps his corpse for three days and refuses to admit that he is dead before surrendering his body for burial.

She poisons him and keeps him locked away in her room; she did not want to lose the only other person she had ever loved, so she made his stay permanent.

[12] Due to this inevitability in the portrayal of death, "A Rose for Emily" is seen as a tale based on determinism, making the short story part of the naturalism literary movement.

Insanity ran in her family and it is possible her father's motives for keeping her from marrying were to end this genetic blight.

Watkins enjoys this story in its entirety, and is impressed by Faulkner's ordering, as building suspense was an important aspect in the response.

[14] The critical response by John Skinner explores the interpretations of Faulkner's short story in detail while reviewing the importance of over-analyzing a piece of literary work.

"[16] Alice Petry introduces a different type of critical response that is not focused on the usual subjects.

For example, the adjective "inescapable" corresponds to Part II, to the incident of the strange smell coming from Miss Emily's home.

[17] Jim Barloon of the University of St. Thomas wrote about an idea introduced to him by his students, that Homer was homosexual, possibly providing another reason for his murder.

As Barloon states in his article, “Positing that Homer Barron is gay not only raises a new set of questions but transforms [the story], or at least our perspective of it.”[18] The psychology of Emily Grierson has been analyzed countless times, with many people concluding that she was mentally ill, and from that point, the reasons why.

Though many different diagnoses have been made, the most common can be summarized as follows by Nicole Smith in her psychological analysis of the character: “It is reasonable to propose that Miss Emily developed [schizophrenia] as a response to the demanding conditions in which she was living as a Southern woman from an aristocratic family.”[19] Tuncay Tezcan in his analysis of the story states, “It represents the numerous conflicts in the main character's life, illustrating the effect of social change on the individual.”[20] Jack Sherting believes Emily suffers from an Oedipus complex.