Narration: Faulkner's "a Rose for Emily"

Narration: Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily"

The story starts and ends in the same place, the funeral in the house of Miss Emily, a sort of town relic. From the beginning the entire town seems to be talking to the reader, with thoughts and opinions being presented with 'we' rather than 'they' or 'I'. Gossip ensues throughout the short story, making it appear more and more like a stereotypical small southern town. While admiring Miss Emily for her pride and past and somewhat holding her on a pedestal, no one personally cared much for her and everyone was very judgmental of her actions. This caused the story of her life, told by this outside source, to become even more somber and depressing than the original morose setting.

The narrator, or rather, the town, doesn't know much about Miss Emily outside what is seen of her and talked about. She has few personal relationships, and those she was close to rarely spoke of her; Homer Barron, her supposed lover, and her father both died without telling much of her story, and her manservant "talked to no one, probably not even to her," (Faulkner, 37) so her mystique in the eyes of the townspeople only increased as time progressed. Many times statements are made about Miss Emily that turn out to be complete rumors, and bring insight as to how she is thought of in the community. They speak of her losing her mind, as "we did not say she was crazy then" (Faulkner, 33) implies that she is later thought to be crazy.

The fact that much of what is said about Miss Emily is false leads readers to believe the townspeople's statements about her less and less. Although she is a so-called "town monument," the people are glad when she is dethroned and humanized after the death of her father. They wanted see her as an equal so they could truly pity her, and they finally had their reason. Especially after she had tried to keep his body, refusing to admit he had died, and started living alone, the townspeople had much to say about her life, most of which was found to be false and proved just how little everyone knew about Miss Emily and what she did throughout her life.

She carried her head high enough--even when we believed that she was fallen... Like when she bought the rat poison, the arsenic. That was over a year after they had begun to say "Poor Emily,"... So the next day we all said "She will kill herself";