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The Narrator In Faulkner's A Rose For Emily

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In Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily,” he utilizes first person plural as the narrator type to create a sense of closeness and connection between readers and the story. The narrator of this story seemingly speaks for the entire town of Jefferson but simultaneously draws back from it. The narrator also makes judgements both for and against Miss Emily. This mysterious narrator covers his or her identity behind the collective pronoun “we”, thus voicing his or her own thoughts and opinions on the behalf of all the townspeople. In this way, readers gain a better sense and knowledge of the various emotions and feelings emitting from the townspeople surrounding Miss Emily and her actions. Additionally, the utilization of first person plural makes the story …show more content…

Not even a minute ago, they wish Miss Emily to kill herself and now they want to help her by getting the town’s minister and her two cousins to talk to her about Homer and set things right, which shows that there is also a part of town that has sympathy and care for Emily and not just the sardonic and pitiful part (Faulkner 86). Furthermore, the narrator’s embodiment of “we” seems to highlight Miss Emily’s inability to adapt and function as a Southern woman in a rapidly changing world. According to Alice Robertson’s “The Ultimate Voyeur: The Communal Narrator of "A Rose for Emily...," the addition of multiple generations among the townspeople create “a comprehensive milieu depicting shifts in postwar Southern culture” (159). For instance, Miss Emily avoids the law when she refuses to have numbers attached to her house when federal mail service arrived at her residence, which reveals her uneasiness and discomfort towards change. Ultimately, the employment of first person plural presents readers with a wider perspective and a better understanding of Faulkner’s story, also making it more suspenseful and an adventure to

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