In “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner and “Good Country People” by Flannery O'Connor, the characters and theme are developed through irony , suspense and symbolism. Some readers may find the title of Faulkner's story, “A Rose for Emily,” ironic. As a symbol, the rose usually signifies romantic love. Assuming that Faulkner is well aware of the symbolic meanings of a rose, why does he wish to title his story about a perverse and doomed romance? Faulkner makes the reader believe that this is a classic love story. Faulkner then overturns the reader's expectations by offering an unconventional heroine. Generally love stories involve a young woman, pure and beautiful, worthy of receiving love. In this story, however, the heroine is old and decrepit. Emily is first introduced at her funeral where everyone from the town has come to pay their respects. Emily is then described as “a tradition, a duty and a care; a sort of hereditary obligation borne by the Municipality". (Faulkner 681) This means that the citizens considered it more of a monument to the city that has been there forever and will not be moved. Emily throughout the story is criticized for how she thinks she is more important than everyone else, but it takes a society to judge a person at the top for there to be a social ladder. When Emily meets Homer she is criticized again for being seen with someone from a lower part of society, but she is also criticized for thinking she is better than everyone else. The townspeople make her feel like an outcast, and that's why she isolates herself from the rest of society. Society criticizes her for what she does, but it is society that forces her to do it. When Emily purchases the mouse then... in the center of the card... a type of awareness gained by the reader, causes the reader to pay attention to the attitudes of each character and what each of them might mean for the story.Works CitedReiss , Woman. "Who or what is Rose." LitOnline. Tidewater Community College, 2003. Web. March 26, 2011. .Faulkner, William. A rose for Emily. 10th ed. New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2010. 681-687. Print.O'Connor, Flannery. Good country people. 10th ed. New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2010. 506-519. Print.Ditsky, John. “Good Country People: Overview.” Reference Guide to Short Fiction. Ed. Noelle Watson. Detroit: St. James Press, 1994. Literature Resource Center. Network. March 26, 2011. “William Faulkner: Emily's Faded Rose.” Mr. Renaissance. Np, nd Web. March 30. 2011 .