Mood Of A Rose For Emily

"A Rose for Emily," a short story by William Faulkner, was ahead of its time for the 1930s. This short story takes place in a town where Emily Grierson lived and died, leaving a mystery as to what the smell in her house was. Emily had lost her father and her boyfriend Homer, who was secretly a homosexual. After Emily's death, the town decides to investigate the smell, discovering a casket upstairs with Homer Barrons' dead body as well as a lock of Emily's gray hair on the empty head space beside his. In this short story, Faulkner uses imagery, tone, and irony to really show the points of this story as well as the overall themes such as letting go of the past and looking forward to the future. or Emily," a short story by William Faulkner, was

In the beginning, Faulkner uses Emily's funeral to make the readers curious about what happened to her and what led to her death: "When Miss Emily Grierson died" (Faulkner p.1). Fualkners uses suspense as a way to add to the wonder of where Homer Barron went. Faulkner uses the suspense line, "And that was the last we saw of Homer Barron" (Faulkner, p. 6). When Emily goes to the druggist to buy the arsenic, she says she wants "the best you have," adding to the suspense of what she needs it for. Faulkner uses the conversation between Emily and the druggist to set the tone of suspense, adding that the arsenic will "kill anything up to an elephant," but Emily says it's "for rats" (Faulkner p. 7). The tone is used to add to the darkness and suspensefulness of this short story, setting the mood for an unexpected twist in the

During the story where Emily gets arsenic from the druggist, Faulkner's tone conveys a sense of exhaustion to the reader. His use of weariness and suspense, combined with gossip about the arsenic, leads others to believe Emily will either kill herself or persuade Homer Barron to marry her: "So the next day we all said, "She will kill herself." "She will persuade him yet" (Faulkner 6). Homer Barron is then to be seen once going through the kitchen door: "A neighbor saw the man admitting him at the kitchen door at dusk one evening." And that was the last we saw of Homer Barron. (Faulkner pg.6). Faulkner used that phrase to show that Homer was never to be seen again after Emily had bought the arsenic. After Emily dies, the townspeople go into her home and see "the man himself lying in the bed." (Faulkner pg.8). It was Homer Barron in the casket. The author uses dramatic irony to show that nobody expected Emily to have him in her home, lying in a