Gerardo Martinez
2/12/11
A Rose for Emily
William Faulkner’s work “A Rose for Emily” projects an image of a 19th century typical living
style. After reading, the story one can make an analysis of the type of society and relate it to the events
in the story. “A Rose for Emily” can be used, as a method to discuss certain factor of the 19th century
American Society, these factors will be discussed from the story and include but, not limited to: Plot,
setting, characters, and narration.
A Rose for Emily plot spreads like this: It all starts when the time Ms. Emily Grierson’s died, and
how everybody from the street went to the funeral, and where anxious to see the inside, of the house
who’s, nobody had been inside in ten years. Then the narrator describes a time thirty years earlier when
Emily resist police man, because of a complaint from the community, behalf an odor coming out of her
house. Her Father has just died, and Emily has been abandoned by the man whom the people of the
town believed she was going to marry. Judge Stevens, the mayor at the time, he sends people to her
house to sprinkle some lime around her house, so it wouldn’t smell. The complaints stopped, but not
wasn’t long for people to start talking about her again. When Homer Barron, arrive to town, soon
becomes a popular figure in town, because people believed he was seeing Ms. Emily. The affair continue
and Emily’s reputation was going to the ground. She goes to the drug store and buy’s a very dangerous
poison. She offers no excuse for buying the poison, so the guy in the counter labels it as “for rats”.
Then there’s an existing fear along the people of the town, they think she is going to kill herself.
Her potential marriage to Homer doesn’t look too sure to happen. People from town wanted the pope
to visit Emily, and she refuses. Later on she decides to see the Baptist, and he swears that he would not
show up again. At the end it described what happens after Ms. Emily’s death. After some time that has
passed the door that It was upstairs, which haven’t been open in 40ys. The room was filled with objects
Gerardo Martinez
2/12/11
suggesting a weeding, even a man’s suit. Homer Barron’s body was lying on the bed in a very bad
decomposition state. And on the pillow there was a long gray hair of Ms. Emily.
Setting is time and place, and often provides more than a background of the story. Faulkner
portrays the townspeople and Emily in the southern part on Jefferson. The town of Jefferson was deeply
indirectly involved in the life of Emily Grierson. The house is described as a big, good income looking
house, was the biggest on the block. All the ladies, envy the house because of ho pretty it was.
Characters are diverse throughout the story, starting with the main character Ms. Emily
Grierson the object of fascination in the story. Emily went from being a happy young girl to a
conservative and secretive old woman. After having potential suitors rejected by her father, she starts
seeing a newcomer called Homer Baron who turns out to be gay. She ultimately poisons and keeps the
corpse in a room. Homer Barron a big man with dark complexion, he develops an interest in Emily an
takes her on Sundays for a buggie ride, out of the sudden he disappears and the curious fact it’s that it
was last seen in Ms. Emily’s house. Judge Stevens being mayor of Jefferson at the time, attempts to try
and do something about Ms. Emily’s odor coming out of her house, and to not provoke any discussions
he send two man to sprinkle some lime on her property. Tobe, Emily’s servant, He’s the only answer to
peoples questions, about what was happening inside Ms. Emily’s house, after years of questioning
people started losing interest.
The unnamed narrator, is not well defined if it’s a man or woman. But there are some
sentences, that give clues that it could be someone inside the house, like Tobe the servant. “already we
knew”, says the narrator, that gives a clue that it could of be him or someone really close. The narrator
also refers to the people of town, as “they” and not as “we”. He also refers as “they” when the door, of
the upstairs room is opend, making it seem, if he was present the day it opend.
Gerardo Martinez
2/12/11
This 19th century story, portraits the American society how it used to be. With black people
serving as servants and people in town chasing, important people scandals. “A Rose for Emily’ clearly
portraits the kind of society of the time, with the type of characters, plot, setting and narration Faulkner
uses. “A Rose for Emily ” can be used as a method to discuss certain factors and type of literature of the
time.