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Re(1): A Rose for Emily
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Posted on December 5, 2005 at 04:08:51 PM by Eric
Trish,
That is an excellent question: one I have never considered to any depth before. However, I did find a page that, if you have not already been there, does attempt to untangle some of the thorny possibilities at Who or What Is the Rose? My own thought is that the rose probably does not have one single, unequivocal meaning, as symbols are often provocative and suggestive precisely because of their ambiguity: they offer a range of complex possibilities that could all be relevant and this contributes to the richness of their overall meaning.
In the opening paragraphs of the online article The Alchemist’s Tale, John Granger conveys a similar sense when he speaks about the spiritual symbolism in Rowling's famous Harry Potter books:
We think of symbolism, after being trained by mechanical teachers and lifeless texts, as cardboard signs saying, “this represents that.” “The white whale is a symbol for God, Mrs. Johnson,” we all learned to say in tenth-grade English. An authentic symbol, however, is a means of passage and of grace between the shadow-world of time and space in which we live and what is real.
Faulkner's symbolism may not have been alchemical, but given the first-rate quality of his prose, it very well could be multi-dimensional and not reducible to a single given meaning. And if it is in some way associated with the color of Emily's bedroom, I would suggest that this factor would itself be symbolic in just such a multi-faceted way: why was her bedroom rose-colored?
I hope this helps. :)
God bless,
Eric
P.S. My own use of the "Faded Rose" of Emily was symbolic of her age, her death, and in general the macabre of the tale: like the story it attempts to frame, it also carries a range of meanings.
The Faded Rose of Emily
Replies:
- Re(2): A Rose for Emily - By trish December 6, 2005 at 08:30:38 AM