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A Rose For Emily Community Analysis

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In “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner, the life of Emily Grierson was explored from the perspective of her community. She preferred to be alone and not associate with the town. However, the people of the town loved to gossip about Miss Emily, and most of the gossip surrounded her father and her relationship with Homer Barron. The gossip surrounding Emily Grierson’s father began with Colonel Sartoris who was the mayor. By claiming that the city owed her father, Colonel Sartoris decided to completely exempt Emily Grierson from paying any taxes to the city of Jefferson. This arrangement worked well until the next generation took over, and they were unsatisfied with this situation. Therefore, the new generation attempted to collect taxes from Miss Emily. She blatantly refused and continued to claim she had no taxes in Jefferson because of her father and Colonel Sartoris. Any tax notice that was sent to her was unclaimed and returned. Another aspect of her father that the town enjoyed gossiping about was how he …show more content…

She constantly caused rumors as the community tried to explain her behaviors. The best example of this was shown when she decided to buy poison. She demanded the best poison with no preference of what kind, and she chose arsenic. Refraining from telling the druggist what the arsenic was for, the town assumed that she was planning to kill herself. While it is never revealed what Miss Emily did with the arsenic, it is believed that she used it to poison Homer Barron. He was last seen entering Miss Emily’s home, and it was not until Emily Grierson passed and her home was explored that he was rediscovered. His corpse had been found rotting in a bed, and it was implied that for some time, Miss Emily slept next to this corpse. Her reasons for doing so were unclear. If she had poisoned him with the intent to kill him, it’s very bizarre that she would share a bed with his corpse as he slowly rotted

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Faulkner later reveals later in the story Miss Emily poisons Homer Barron, giving an explanation as to why Emily’s neighbors didn’t see Mr. Barron coming in and out of the home like he usually does. The neighbors then see his skeleton in the upstairs room following Miss Emily’s death. Second, Faulkner uses foreshadowing in “A Rose for Emily” when Miss Emily buys the arsenic, the townspeople think, “’[Emily] will kill herself’” (Faulkner 6). The townspeople then see Homer Barron and Miss Emily on a Sunday buggy ride with her head held high.

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She lived in an isolated world after her father’s death. Finally, she meets Homer; Homer was a man who knew what he wanted in life, and Miss Emily was not part of it. This drove Miss Emily to do the unthinkable, and she bought rat poison and killed Homer. Years passed, and no one knew that Miss Emily killed Homer and had him lying in the upstairs bed dead. It was intel her death that the towns people realized that miss Emily had become mentally ill with the death of her father and

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A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner is a story of a woman with the name of Emily Grierson. Faulkner’s use of this eccentric and bizarre character creates the chilling mood of the story. Emily is a southern spinster who lives a small town named Jefferson. Her father, a very controlling person, soon passes and Emily is left in grief. Emily becomes the town outcast and soon becomes controlling as her father.

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Emily’s father was very overprotective of Emily; even to the extent that he would stare down those walking on the street as he sat on the porch, a whip in his hand, with his daughter sitting in a chair behind the door. Some critics are of the belief that the way that he treats her is akin to how a man would his lover; thus, one may also believe that they might of have had an incestuous relationship. One piece of evidence that supports this idea can be seen when Emily hides the fact of his death; unwilling to let him go, Emily seemed to have lost her mind. Emily would later go on to fall in love with Homer Barron. After Homer had somewhat of a promiscuous relationship with Emily (a sin in itself), Emily conspired to murder him, and to stop him from ever being able to leave her.

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In his short story, “A Rose for Emily,” William Faulkner intends to convey a message to his audience about the unwillingness in human nature to accept change and more specifically the secretive tendencies of aristocrats in the South during the early 20th century. In order to do this, Faulkner sets up a story in which he isolates and old aristocratic woman, Miss Emily, from her fellow townspeople and proceeds to juxtapose her lifestyle with theirs. In doing this he demonstrates her stubborn refusal to change along with the town, but also Among several literary devices the author employs to achieve this contrast, Faulkner sets up his narrator as a seemingly reliable, impartial and knowledgeable member of the community in which Miss Emily lives by using a first person plural, partially omniscient point of view. The narrator is present for all of the scenes that take place in the story, but does not play any role in the events, and speaks for the town as a whole. Faulkner immediately sets up his narrator as a member of the community in the first line of the story, saying that when Miss Emily died “our whole town went to her funeral.”

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These events ultimately lead to Emily's change in her behavior, she refuses to follow elementary laws (among other deeds) and ends up creating tension in the town. Simply put, in William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily,” Emily Grierson quickly becomes a fallen monument to the people of Jefferson.

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In "A Rose for Emily" William Faulkner uses old southern customs, refusal of change, and traditions. Faulkner uses the elements of modernism by telling how Emily is stuck with old southern customs. "She told them that her father was not dead", by not accepting the fact that he was, they felt like she had to leech on of what she had lost (724). "The structure itself of the story underscores the stagnant, repetitive nature of Emily Grierson's existence" (Schwab 217). She is stuck in the past and in her ways by "the house filled with dust and shadows", the same dust was there when her father died, her refusing to change (727).

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They would have noticed some subtle warning signs that Emily was mentally deteriorating, such as her unwillingness to admit her father's death and the purchase of arsenic from the drug store. If the townspeople refrained from gossiping about Emily, they would have noticed how her isolation was tipping her over the edge. At the conclusion of the story, when the townsfolk discovered Homer’s dead body in Emily’s bed, there would have been less of a shock to the reader if the narration was focused on Emily’s personal feelings and

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In William Faulkner’s short story, A Rose for Emily, Emily Grierson, a prominent member of her small town, dies alone in her home. Upon her death, curious townsfolk entered her home trying to learn her secrets. It was thought she was crazy. Emily Grierson was not crazy; she was isolated by her father, which led to her odd social tendencies and unique interactions with others. A Rose for Emily is a short story based in a small town.

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“A rose for Emily” by William Faulkner is a short story about the life of Emily Grierson. The story, as told by the townsfolk, tells the present and past of Emily’s life and how unfortunate events affected her decisions and lifestyle. Faulkner utilizes the townspeople to narrate “A Rose for Emily” To portrait how the town covered Emily’s deeds and thus protected the town’s reputation. The townspeople are the narrator of “A Rose for Emily,” Along the story they are sometimes represented as a single entity that seeks to justify Emily’s actions.

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William Faulkner’s short story “A Rose for Emily” shows the relationship between Mrs. Emily Grierson and the people of the town in which she resides. The southern Gothic novel highlights the prejudice that existed in the South, following the Civil War. Overall, the story illustrates how much the South struggled to adapt to the changes that have been implemented upon it. Race relations, the economic status and small town values that exemplify the southern atmosphere of the time are prevalent throughout “A Rose for Emily.” Faulkner communicates the theme of tradition and change successively through point of view and symbolism, which can all be explored through a historical lens.

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Analysis of “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner is the best short story because its plot, setting, and symbols are well formulated and incorporated into the story to effectively convey the themes of death and change, race and gender. A Rose for Emily is a short story regarding the life of Emily Grierson as told through the perspectives of the townspeople in a tiny old town in the South. The story begins with the awkward relationship between Emily and her dad, pre and posts his death, and further explores how Emily gets secluded after poisoning her “Yankee” partner Homer Barron and concealing his remains for more than a decade in her bed. William Faulkner exploits various literary devices to create various themes.

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Just as they were about to resort to law and force she breaks down and buried her father quickly.” (Faulkner 453) Miss Emily tries to keep her father’s body so she isn’t left lonely. She tries to keep him until the townspeople basically force her to bury him. The second reason Miss Emily may be crazy and mentally ill is because she kills Homer Baron.

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Even the town pharmacist gives arsenic to Miss Emily without a valid explanation as to what her motives are behind it. The community looks after Emily but only out of a sense of duty and not genuine concern for her welfare. This is illustrated by all of the townspeople gossiping about her. Many neighbors disagree with allowing Emily to freely behave as she pleases, but instead they continue to follow the orders given by the town fathers who felt that the community owes it to Miss Emily’s deceased father to watch over her. Faulkner also narrates that Miss Emily refuses to put house numbers on the side of her house.

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