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Is A Rose For Emily Reliable

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Emily Grierson, the formerly wealthy bachelorette from a family of gentry, is portrayed through the second most unreliable lens, with the first being herself. Her actions throughout the story display a mind not all there, with her refusal to admit her fathers death and the murder of her lover Homer Barron. “A Rose For Emily,” a short story written by William Faulkner, is set in the late 1800’s to early 1900’s in a small southern town. It recaps the life of a reclusive Miss Emily whose trials and tribulations are often talked about among the people who live near her. Although all stories about Emily are accounts of gossip from the townspeople, which inherently are unreliable, the narrator builds credibility through various stories and memories …show more content…

However this makes the narrator seem credible, it actually is not reliable. After Miss Emily’s purchase of arsenic, the townspeople said “She will kill herself,” (Faulkner 696) because unbeknownst to them, she was planning to kill Homer. The assumption the townspeople made is relatable, because, in social groups where one person is mysterious, others will make assumptions and gossip about them. The curiosity of the townspeople towards Miss Emily brings the reader into the story and makes them curious as well. After Miss Emily's death, the true expanse of this curiosity is shown. Faulkner writes “When Miss Emily Grierson died, our whole town went to her funeral: the men through a sort of respectful affection …, the women …to see the inside of her house, which no one …had seen in at least ten years'' (Faulker 692). Even in Miss Emily’s eventual death, she had isolated herself from the rest of the town to the point that no one knew what her house looked like on the inside. The townspeople's accounts of her are few and far between, and the things they say about her are speculation. This does mean that the narrator is not truly reliable, however, you are led into a sense of trust because the townspeople all hear the stories and believe them. The use of gossip has a profound effect of a feeling of closeness to the townspeople and separates Miss Emily from the

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1145 Words | 5 Pages

Emily was growing old. Her hair was shortening and turning gray. Soon after realizing that “Homer was not the marrying man” and that he would much rather spend his time with young male mates, Emily decided to retaliate. In order to not lose what she thought was the love of her life, Emily went down to the nearest drug store and bought some rat poison and gave it to Homer. Homer died and Emily kept his body in the upstairs room where no one would dare to go.

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359 Words | 2 Pages

-“So the next night, after midnight, four men crossed Miss Emily 's lawn and slunk about the house like burglars, sniffing along the base of the brickwork,” (Faulkner II). -“When her father died, it got about that the house was all that was left to her; and in a way, people were glad,” (Faulkner II). -“The day after his death all the ladies prepared to call at the house and offer condolence and aid,” (Faulkner

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546 Words | 3 Pages

Paloma Cerda Mrs. Koehler ENGL-1301-566 September 20, 2017 In A Rose for Emily written by William Faulkner, the story of Miss Emily is told through a very loose format. Through this narration, there is a long and drawn out suspense built up through little hints left by the reader without fully giving away the dark truth behind Emily and her house. Until the end of the story, the narrators ambiguity cleverly points the reader towards the climax of the story where Emily is discovered to be Homer Barron’s killer. This ambiguous element is important to the quality of this short story as it drives it forward and keeps the reader interested.

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1066 Words | 5 Pages

Even though the town tried to feel bad for Miss Emily, the town still loves to gossip, so they still like to talk about her “being left alone, and a pauper”

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624 Words | 3 Pages

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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1852 Words | 8 Pages

Throughout the story, the main character, Miss Emily Grierson, shows signs of what appears to be some form of mental illness. Although Faulkner never states that Miss Emily has anything wrong with her mental health, he does provide enough evidence to support that she is not psychologically stable. In “A Rose for Emily,” Faulkner portrays the main character as a mysterious icon of the small town of Jefferson, Mississippi. As the story states, Emily’s father is an admirable figure in the city of Jefferson. After his passing, the townspeople show the same respect for Emily, as well.

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963 Words | 4 Pages

The story, "A Rose for Emily," by William Faulkner, is about an old woman, Emily Grierson, who lives in the South post-Civil War. It details her life and how the town of Jefferson sees her. Faulkner expertly uses symbolism to develop his characters and the plot. He uses Emily to symbolize the South and its resistance to change, the town to represent new ideas, and a rose to symbolize love and decay. One of the story's draws is the mystery surrounding Miss Emily and her odd behavior, and Faulkner's use of symbolism adds to the uncertainty and strengthens the themes of change and decay.

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806 Words | 4 Pages

“A Rose for Emily” is a dark, suspenseful Gothic tale in which a young girl is put on a pedestal by a town who sees her as haughty and scornful. Miss Emily Grierson’s father controls her and her love life, pushing away all people until he dies and Emily is left alone. As her life goes on the townspeople watch her and judge Emily, almost turning her life into a spectacle to be talked about. At her death, a gruesome sight is unfolded when her lover of over forty years ago is found decomposed in her upstairs room. William Faulkner effectively builds epic suspense in “A Rose for Emily” by the unchronological order of the story, the treatment of Emily’s father towards her, and her family’s history of mental illness.

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960 Words | 4 Pages

He also shows the relationship between Emily and her dead father and how Emily cannot let go of people that show a love interest in her or the people who look after her in that she must be attached to them even after death. Faulkner depicts an Emily that was once young and vibrant, who maintained the Grierson home and kept it in a pristine condition. Faulkner relays to readers that because Emily was unable to control her own destiny and was powerless under her father’s hand, she became a recluse and ultimately went into a downward spiral. After sensing and believing that her first real love will leave her, Emily purchases arsenic and it is believed that she will kill herself because there is no point in living if no one will love her

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1189 Words | 5 Pages

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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William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” critiques the American South Describing Emily’s vibrant life full of hope and buoyancy, later shrouded into the profound mystery, Faulkner emphasizes her denial to accept the concept of death. William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” takes place in the South during the transitional time period from the racial discrimination to the core political change of racial equality. Starting from the description of her death, “A Rose for Emily” tells the story about the lady who is the last in her generation (Emily Grierson). Being strong, proud and a traditional lady of southern aristocracy, Emily turns into an evil, unpredictable and mysterious old lady after the death of her father. Even though “A Rose for Emily”

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1088 Words | 5 Pages

He arrived in the town when they started the contracts to get new paved sidewalks, and he caught her eyes. Everything seemed normal with the couple until she went looking for the strongest poison from the druggist. After requesting her poison, she she was urged to tell the druggist the use for it and “Miss Emily just stared at him, her head tilted back in order to look him eye for eye, until he looked away and went and got the arsenic and wrapped it up.” The drug was known to kill almost any animal, so many people assumed she was going to end her life. There was some whispers and stirring of what might happen to her throughout the town but she kept making appearances around town.

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978 Words | 4 Pages

Furthermore, the short story is written in a first person point of view by the community of Jefferson, which develops the irony that leaves not only Jefferson, but the reader in ‘awe.’ The community of Jefferson is left with a plethora of questions of Miss Emily’s mysterious lifestyle. Correspondingly, the community of Jefferson becomes very obsessed with Miss Emily. “When Miss Emily Grierson died, our whole town went to her funeral: the men through a sort of respectful affection for a fallen monument, the women mostly out of curiosity to see the inside of her house…” (Faulkner)

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793 Words | 4 Pages

Kierrah Edwards ENGL 201 9/20/15 Character Analysis: Emily Grierson The short story “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner depicts how seclusion can certainly impact one’s life. Throughout the story, Emily gives off this “insane” impression. However, after fully reading the story, the reader can fully understand why Emily was the way she was. Emily Grierson was a very dependent person.

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543 Words | 3 Pages

In William Faulkner’s, “A Rose for Emily,” the historical context is important to understand. In order to fully comprehend the short story there must be some sort of understanding about the time period in which the story took place. This short story took place in the 18th/19th century during and after the Civil War in the South. In “A Rose for Emily” the historical context shows the social, economic, and the cultural environment of the background. Miss Emily was born during the Civil War.

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