Denial in Faulkner\'s \"A Rose

¶ … Denial in Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily"

Denial is an amazing state of mind because it impels people to believe and do strange things. One short story that demonstrates this aspect is William Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily." In this story, Emily lives her entire life in denial of certain things. We see how this shapes her attitudes and actions. Emily learns denial in the event of her father's death. She refuses to believe that he would leave her and does her best to not have to think about it. This reaction establishes the fact that Emily is unstable and unable to accept certain aspects of reality. Denial resurfaces with Homer, Emily's love interest, in a more sinister way as Emily decides death is the only way to keep this man in her life. The theme of denial in "A Rose for Emily" demonstrates the delicate condition of the human psyche.

Emily's first experience with denial results from her father's death. Her father has done so well insulating Emily from the world that when he dies, she simply refuses to believe that he, such a powerful figure in her life, can be gone. She goes to tremendous lengths to keep from having to confront these facts. She keeps the man's dead body in their house for several days before she eventually gives in to the truth. Emily needed him in the home with her, dead or alive. This is very telling about Emily's personality; she needs him in a detrimental way. When the women in the neighborhood visit Emily, we read there is "no trace of grief on her face. She told them her father was not dead" (Faulkner 454). The fact that she is not grieving illustrates how Emily simply refuses to believe her father could die and leave her alone. Denial is the only way she can cope and even after her father's body is removed, she is never the same. She is withdrawn and insular.

Emily's next experience with denial is more traumatic because it deals with rejection. She never actually knew rejection before Homer and she does not take it well. Homer brings Emily a sense of hope she had never known before when it comes to love. His rejection of her brings Emily some problems that she must face head on if she is to keep what it is she wants. Homer "liked men" (456) and this must have hurt Emily terribly but she does not respond the way we would expect. Circumstances with Homer are different because Emily is in love with Homer and she sees this as her last chance for sharing her life with someone. This is more than a simple affair for her. When Homer rejects her, he puts an end to the love story that Emily desires. Because her father has "driven away" (455) all of Emily's previous prospects, Emily refuses to believe Homer cannot love her. She denies this fact, buries it, and begins working on a situation with which she can live. She surmises that living with a dead Homer would mean that she would never have to be alone again and never have to put up with the troubles that having a living boyfriend or husband brings. Homer is better dead than alive because dead, he provides Emily what she wants and, unknowingly, perpetuates her denial.