In a Rose for Emily, the nameless narrator depicts the fate of a town woman, Emily Grierson’s death. The narrator traces the death of Emily with no sense of remorse but a certain element of relief at her death. She is nothing but “a fallen monument”. Emily is depicted as both neurotic and disturbed. By using the voice of the whole town, the narrator manages to make Emily a caricature and pariah to the town.
The story of Emily and her family and how they related to the town is told in a casual detached manner. Her father might have contributed to her becoming the woman she was and the fact that she turns off all her suitors only to end up lying in bed with a dead man whom she could have probably killed makes her scarier than expected. From the narrator we get to know not just the scary atmosphere of a decaying mansion but the nature of the town’s folk. Changes in generations affects Emily, the death of the Mayor means she will have to pay taxes to the town and when her painting kids grow up she has to close herself in. A better glimpse of the nature of Emily can be seen in her exchange with the druggist.
Two quotes are striking in this reading. The first sentence which goes; “when Miss Emily Grierson died, our whole town went to her funeral: the men through a sort of respectful affection for a fallen monument” (Faulkner 1). This quote sets the tone for the narrator’s thoughts about Emily and what she represented for the city. The second quote which goes “So the next day we all said, "She will kill herself"; and we said it would be the best thing. When she had first begun to be seen with Homer Barron, we had said, "She will marry him"” (Faulkner 5). reveals the town’s fascination with Emily. The town knows that Baron is not interested in women yet they predict that Emily will marry him.
References
William Faulkner. A rose for Emily.
