Disconnection between the Main Character and Society in the Short Story A Rose for Emily

Abstract

This research examines how a main character experiences alienation in her life. This research aims to analyze Emily's life, which does not meet society's expectations and cannot adapt to social changes in the short story A Rose for Emily. Descriptive qualitative methods were used in this research. The theory used is existentialism, which emphasizes the concept of alienation. In analyzing the data, researchers used library research techniques. After reading the short story A Rose for Emily in its entirety, the researcher found six supporting elements that prove the disconnect between Emily and society, where Emily feels isolated or unable to meet society's expectations of her and is also unable to adapt to social changes in her environment. The six supporting elements are the physical condition of Emily's house, Emily's rejection of modernization, refusal to pay taxes, alienation after her father's death, her relationship with Homer Barron, and finally, Emily's hidden death. This research concludes that the short story A Rose for Emily depicts alienation and disconnection between the main character and society and the environment, where Emily, the main character, feels isolated when she is unable to accept and adapt to society's expectations and developments, where her life is trapped in the past. Hopefully, this research will be useful and become a reference for future researchers who will analyze literary works that use existentialism theory, especially those that focus on alienation.