A Rose for Emily

The short story, “A Rose for Emily”, by William Faulkner, is told by an unnamed narrator and broken into five sections. The story is not chronological, but completely out of order, adding mystery and climax. The first section begins with the death of the main character, Emily Grierson, and relates the thoughts and actions of the small Southern U.S. town. A flawed relationship between the town and Miss Emily is seen throughout the story. The tension between the town and Emily is a main reason for her recluse and insanity.

It is evident from the first line of the story that there is a substantial connection between Miss Emily Grierson and the town she lived in. The opening sentence states that when Emily died the whole town went to her funeral; “the men through a sort of respectful affection for a fallen monument, the women mostly out of curiosity to see the inside of her house” (391). This comparison between the men and women attending her funeral attests to the complex relationship between Emily and the town. The men represent the pity people in the town felt for her, while the women express the coldness and hostility towards Emily. The narrator of the story recounts Emily’s tragedy from the perspective of a townsperson. He/she relates all the opinions of the town, but is not severe in his/her own attitude towards Emily. Many times the narrator talks for those townspeople who shared his/her attitude. The third paragraph of the story begins with the narrator’s portrayal of the relationship between the town and Emily. The narrator states, “Alive, Miss Emily had been a tradition, a duty, and a care; a sort of hereditary obligation upon the town” (391).

The second section of the short story retreats back in chronology and begins to explain Emily’s life before people in the town complained about “the smell” (392). The interaction between Emily and the town changes considerably at this point in her life. Before her father’s death, most of the town was hostile...