William Faulkner, “A Rose for Emily”

“A Rose for Emily” is frequently anthologized and analyzed, is probably Faulkner's best-known story. Because of its elements of mystery, suspense, and the macabre, it has enjoyed a popular appeal. That Emily Grierson, an aging southern belle, murders the lover who spurned her and sleeps beside his decaying body for a number of years is only the most sensational aspect of the story (Lehr, 77-86).

Like any other good story, A Rose for Emily, by Faulkner, has all the ingredients; the initial situation, conflict, complication, climax, suspense, denouement, and conclusion. It is an excellent blend of these ingredients and this is depicted in the analysis given below.

The initial setting of the book moves the audience from a funeral attended by the town to a strange turn with 'Taxes'. However, the taxes lose their spotlight when Emily slips into denial about the death of her father. She stayed in this mode of denial for 3 days after his death. Then the next summer, she gets involved with a man who she fears would leave her. She bought some poison before her boyfriend disappeared. There was a foul smell around the house and at this point, the audience only has enough information to believe that they know how to piece the broken ends together but are still kept in the dark by the issue of taxes and with the way, the pieces are still missing from the picture.

The town was evidently awful to Emily for getting involved with Homer Barron and did not approve of her dating him. They wanted her to uphold the ideals of the southern woman like her forbearers. The town however could not stop her from dating Homer Barron and set the cousins on her. This was after the death of her father.

Analysis of the Story

In “A Rose for Emily,” William Faulkner imitates associative Southern storytelling style as an unnamed first-person narrator speaks for the entire town of Jefferson, relating what all the townspeople know or believe. Unlike typical Faulkner stories that employ multiple individual narrators, “A Rose for Emily” achieves the effect of multiple narrators by combining them into a single narrative voice, an unnamed narrator. First-person plural pronouns emphasize that this narrator represents the consciousness of the town. This style is similar to that used in Greek tragedy, wherein chorus and chorus leader provide the reader/audience with information, interpret the characters' actions, and express public opinion; thus, the narrator in “A Rose for Emily,” whose age and gender are never identified, can be designated a choric character (Faulkner, 12-28).

The narrative sequence in this story is not chronological; the reader learns Miss Emily's history in much the same way a newcomer to Jefferson might hear about her history. As the story opens, Miss Emily apparently has just died, and the townspeople are discussing her strange and sad life. Faulkner relates various incidents in her life, but these incidents are related thematically, not chronologically. Faulkner builds suspense by imitating the southern ...