The rose is this remarkable story is not an image, a tribute or any other symbolism normally attributed to the "giving of a rose". In fact, the rose is Miss Emily herself, "the faded rose of days gone by," (from Tanya Tucker's hit 'Delta Dawn'). Miss Emily's inability to step out of the expectations of aristocracy into which she was born and to acknowledge change has caused her to fade into insanity. She could not accept the death of her father, and clung to her portrait of him even after giving up his body. She could not accept the novelty of a "free postal delivery" or of her need, in the new world order, to pay her taxes. And above all, she could not accept the fact that Homer Barron would not marry her, after escorting her publicly through town. She could not accept renewal, and so she faded into a world of insanity in which all things would ever be the same. A faded rose of days gone by...
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