Conflict of the Past and the Present in "A Rose for Emily" by William Faulkner

<Tab/>The story "A Rose for Emily" " by William Faulkner takes place in a small town in the south of the United States after the civil war. One of the aspects we could look at the story is through the conflict of the past and the present. Emily Grierson, Colonel Sartoris, the Board of Alderman, and the Negro servant represent the past ant the traditions of the old South. Homer Barron, the new Board of Alderman, the new sheriff, and the town symbolize the present and the modern world.
The conflict between the past and the present is shown in the beginning of the story by the description of the house, "only now Miss Emily's house was left, lifting its stubborn and coquettish decay above the cotton wagons and gasoline pumps-an eyesore among eyesores." The same words, "stubborn and coquettish decay," can be used to describe Miss Emily as well. …