Final answer:
William Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily" and "Barn Burning" explore the theme of the human heart in conflict with itself. The stories deal with characters facing internal struggles between loyalty, morality, and societal pressures. The discovery of a single grey hair in "A Rose for Emily" signifies the protagonist's inability to let go of her loved one, even in death.
Step-by-step explanation:
William Faulkner was an influential American writer whose works often explored complex themes within the setting of the American South, particularly in his fictional Yoknapatawpha County. "A Rose for Emily" and "Barn Burning" are two of Faulkner's most notable stories that deal with the human heart in conflict with itself, a theme Faulkner mentioned in his Nobel Prize for Literature acceptance speech in 1950.
In "Barn Burning", the protagonist Sarty is torn between his loyalty to his father and his own moral compass, which is in direct conflict with his father's actions of barn burning. This story highlights the struggles of family loyalty versus ethical integrity. On the other hand, "A Rose for Emily" presents the story of Emily Grierson, a woman isolated by her town and by her own actions, culminating in a dark discovery that raises questions about love, loneliness, and societal expectations.
The significance of the single grey hair found at the end of "A Rose for Emily" suggests that Emily had been sleeping with the corpse of her deceased suitor, Homer Barron, signifying her deep-seated issues with letting go and the lengths to which she went to avoid loneliness and change.