"A Rose for Emily" and "Old Gardiston"

"A Rose for Emily" and "Old Gardiston" share a theme with "Jean-ah Poquelin".  In all three of these short stories the main character cannot let go of the past.  In "A Rose for Emily" Emily refuses to leave her house, or even take care of it.  No one has been let inside since her husband died.  When she dies and the house is finally opened up, the people of the town are surprised to find that everything looks like it hasn't been touched in  years.  They also find her husbands body laying in bed, decayed with a body impression next to it and a single grey hair.  This leads the people to believe that Emily has been sleeping next to her husband for years as if he had never died.  Emily cannot let go of her past.  This is also symbolized by her not taking care of the house.  If she does yard work, or any upkeep it is a reminder that time is passing and she does not want any time to pass.  When Emily dies it is symbolic of her moving on.

In "Old Gardiston" Miss Duke also cannot let go of the past.  She viewed falling in love with a northern as unacceptable, much like the people of the south viewed being rejoined with the north unacceptable.  During reconstruction people tried as hard as they could to resist being "northernized", just as Miss Duke refused any help from a northerner.  In the end, the south gave in and succeeded to the north, accepting as much as they could reconstruction.  In the end of the book when Miss Duke is left with nothing, she realizes that people from the north aren't all that bad and she could in fact love a northerner. (just as the south realized they LOVE the north)