William Faulkner, "A Rose for Emily", is a short story told by an anonymous character who should be considered the voice of his hometown and tells the story from order. The story is based on the life of Emily Grierson and her ties to the South after the Civil War. There are many parts of the story that show symbolism in various ways. Some of these symbols include Emily's house, her hair, her clothes, and even the "rose" mentioned in the story. Symbolism manifests itself in different ways throughout all forms of literature. It is mainly shown through the main theme as well as the smaller themes that are found throughout the story. Symbolism is used to represent ideas or qualities using symbols. The title itself is the first hint of symbolism that appears throughout this short story. A rose is most often used as a symbol of love. In this case, during this story, Homer is Emily's "rose", or also known as Emily's love interest. Emily's father was a man who neither allowed nor accepted anyone being good enough for his daughter. Because of this, Emily was never able to experience love until the day she met Homer. A rose is also capable of symbolizing silence. This can be interpreted throughout the story that Homer was still Emily's rose, but was then known as her "secret". Emily cherished and loved Homer and kept him to herself after his body became corrupted over time. Many women dry roses to preserve them forever. Emily was known to have a warped and unusual mind, and with that said, she wanted to keep Homer forever by "drying his rose." The room where she placed Homer Barron was described as having "rose-shaded lights" (330) which may also connect to the symbol of... middle of paper ... occurring in his life. Emily's stubbornness is then also shown when the narrator describes the house as "stubborn and flirtatious" (315). Faulkner uses symbolism to help bring out the main points of the story itself and also uses this symbolism to show how Emily is an allegory. for the changes that occurred in the South during the Civil War. Using the symbols of the rose meaning love or silence, or the hair meaning that with time things change, or even the house, being set back in the ancient times of civil war, the symbolism is shown from several ways throughout this short story. William Faulkner wrote "A Rose for Emily", in such a way that the reader will be able to understand and interpret the main points of the story in a different way, which will allow him to deepen the meaning of each part of the story. story rather than having a boring meaning behind everything.