There is no "argument" in Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily."
It is a fictional short story, not a nonfictional essay. Argumentative essays present
arguments, the best fiction usually doesn't, especially in the 20th
century.
Faulkner, of all writers, knows better than to
present fiction that provides easy one-liners that presume to tell people how to live.
His fiction is filled with ambiguities, as is life. There is no "message" argued in the
story, only ideas that are raised and situations that are treated. Faulkner's story is
above giving simplistic answers to its readers.
The
desperation of the South following the Civil War is treated. The loss of the South's
economy is presented. The reluctance to change and inability to adjust are featured.
As is mental illness.
Issues of parenting are touched upon,
and issues of isolation and of alienation are present as
well.
Faulkner depicts human existence; particularly human
existence in the South following the Civil War. He doesn't preach or teach or pretend
to have nice, neat, easy answers to life's difficult questions. He knows
better.
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