In his short story, "A Rose for Emily," William Faulkner utilizes his theme by creating a setting, which has interrelation with history context revolving around the idea of compelling change. The main aspect of setting is the Old South after the Civil War. Before the Civil War, Southern society consisted of a group of aristocracy and slaves. Onward to a post- Civil War period, forceful changes in the society arose. Many Southerners refused to accept that their conditions had change. They tended to cling to old values and customs. Death of Emily's father marked the end of the old lifestyle. In contrary, entrance of Homer Barron represents the progress of civilization: "The town had just let the contracts for paving the sidewalks, and in the summer after her father's death they began the work. The construction company came with riggers and mules and machinery, and a foreman named Homer Barron (31). Here, Faulkner illustrates that the new progress of changing era is destroying the old traditions of a dying age. The protagonist of the story, Miss Emily represents the Old South and its tradition. Faulkner uses Miss Emily's family backgrounds and description of their house to mirror the historical and social background of the Old South. Miss Emily's family, The Griersons, was once Southern aristocracy. However, following the Civil War was the recession of the South, which caused the downfall of her family. Everything about Miss Emily, even her house represents Southerners' resistance to change. Faulkner described the Griersons house, another principle part of the setting in the story, that the house "had once been white,  it is now the only house left among the neighborhood "lifting its stubborn and Coquettish decay above the cotton wagons and the gasoline pumps,  and had become "an eyesore among eyesores" (29) to depict perception of time, progression and decay. Another way Faulkner conveys the message, that one should not cl