A Rose For Emily Unreliable

“A Rose for Emily” written by William Faulkner, is a short story narrated by townspeople about a wealthy woman named Emily. At the end of the story, the reader discovers Emily has been suffering from mental deterioration and may have committed murder. The townspeople describe Emily’s life in great detail; yet focus strictly on gossip, innuendo and tragedy. The gossip the townspeople spread about her revolves around the jealousy they have for her family’s wealth. The townspeople’s narration in "A Rose for Emily" is unreliable because it centers on the gossip and jealousy the people have for her family status and personal relationships, rather than focusing on her deteriorating mental health, manifesting in the denial of her father’s death,

She could not escape the pain and mourning which came with the death of her father, thus providing the residents a platform of satisfaction over Emily's grief. This is the first form of direct resentment that the people expressed towards her and they believed that since she had finally experienced hard times they could “pity Miss. Emily” (pg. 1105) because she appeared to be equal to the common man. To the residents she finally appeared “humanized” (pg. 1105) instead of some "untouchable," public figure. The people could view her as a normal person now because she finally faced the hardships that they experienced every day. This made the occupants feel like Emily was now their “equal” because she was not exempt from everyday

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