"A Rose for Emily" is a wonderful short story written by William Faulkner. It begins with the end of Miss Emily's life and told by an unknown person who would most likely be the voice of the town. Emily Grierson is a protagonist in this story and her life is used as an allegory about the changes in a southern Jeffersonian town after the Civil War in the early 1900s. Starting with the title, William Faulkner uses symbolism such as the house, Miss Emily as a "monument", her hair, Homer Barron and even Emily's "rose" to express the passage of time and changes. The central theme of the story is the decay of the city, the house and Miss Emily herself. It shows the way we all age and decay and there is nothing permanent except change. Miss Emily's house is one of the important symbols representing the past because it refuses updating like Miss Emily. The "...house had once been white, decorated with domes and spiers and scrolled balconies in the starkly bright style of the seventies, located on what had once been our choicest street" (209). She then grows old with Emily an "eyesore amid burning eyes" (209). She had once been "a slender figure in white" (211) and later appears "swollen, like a body long immersed in water motionless... her eyes lost in the fat ridges of her face..." (210). She represents the Old South with her actions. She avoided believing that times were changing and did not join the new society. She does not go out either . An example from Emily's life in the past is when she refuses to pay her taxes. During Miss Emily's funeral she referred to another symbol as a "fallen monument" (209), which could mean that she was once beautiful and rich but over time she grew old and became poor. She also wears... in the center of the paper... at her nostrils, we saw a long lock of iron gray hair” (215). gives the idea with the changes in Emily Grierson's appearances and life at the time as an allegory of the changes in old Southern ideals after the Civil War. Although Emily is a strong woman, at the same time she is a victim of her resistance to the changing times as the world moves on without her and the misperception of the people around her. In conclusion, this story "A Rose for Emily" tells the life, love, time, hopes and destruction of Emily Grierson using clever symbols. Emily never accepts that the changing world around her can benefit her life "The new generation has become the backbone and spirit of the city" (214), but Emily is always in conflict both with her heart than with his community and with the modern world.