Rose for Emily" Emily takes the life of her lover, Homer Barron, by poisoning him with arsenic. By doing so, she erases any hope that she has for getting married and having children. Most analyses of the work focus on Emily as a victim to explain her motives for murder. However, Judith Fetterley takes a more novel stance by emphasizing Emily's intelligence and ability to turn discrimination against the perpetrators. Given Emily's strong independent nature, Fetterley's view holds the most merit for explaining Emily's murder of Barron.

Symbolism associated with description of a picture of Emily's father, "Miss Emily a slender figure in white in the background, her father a spraddled silhouette in the foreground, his back to her and clutching a horsewhip, the two of them framed by the back-flung front door" is highly illustrative of the lack of control in Emily's life.

A slender figure in white represents...
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