"A Rose for Emily" is a classic example of Southern Gothic
fiction, and it sports most of the specific features usually identified with the genre.
Southern Gothic fiction (as well as traditional Gothic
literature)
relies on supernatural, ironic, or unusual events
to guide the plot.
Unlike
traditional Gothic literature, Southern Gothic
fiction
uses
these tools not for the sake of suspense, but to explore social issues and reveal the
cultural character of the American
South.
Other specifics to the
genre include the use of antebellum characteristics; a woman in need of help; a heroic
man; the grotesque; strong egos; and, often, racial
bigotry.
"A Rose for Emily" includes nearly all of these
examples. Irony is found throughout and there are several unusual events pertinent to
the plot and climax. It is set in an old Southern town where the Civil War is still
remembered by many of the living. Emily lives in an old, ante-bellum home (old, dark
houses being a traditional gothic element), and is decidedly a strong-willed woman as
well as a "damsel in distress," though, perhaps not in the traditional sense. More than
one of her actions appear as highly grotesque. Homer Barron appears as the would-be
hero.
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