Free Essays on William Faulkner's A Rose for Emily - Homicide

A Homicide for Emily

“A Rose for Emily” is a short intriguing story written by William Faulkner. This is because the way Emily’s character is portrayed, the mysterious death of Homer Barron, and the way Faulkner uses the narrator to tell the story.

Emily is portrayed as a woman who kept to herself throughout her whole life. In her younger years her father had driven all her suitors away. No man was good enough for Emily. Emily’s solitude was especially evident after her father died and when her boyfriend Homer disappeared. Her hair had turned an irony gray after her father died. She had a black manservant throughout her whole life that went to the market, cooked and gardened for her. During the end of her life the manservant’s visits were the only way that the townspeople knew that she was still alive. After her father died Emily kept his body in her house. A few days after Emily’s father’s death a couple of ladies came to give their condolences. But Emily came to the door dressed in casual clothes and showed no signs of grief. The townspeople were about to resort to law enforcement when she finally broke down and told them that her father was dead. The townspeople did not believe she was crazy, even though they knew insanity ran in her family. They thought Emily did this because they remembered how the father drove all the young men away. Now she was a figure that could be pitied by the town, alone and penniless.

Eventually Emily met Homer, a Yankee who came into town to pave sidewalks during the summer of Emily’s father’s death. They started seeing each other but Homer would rather hang out with the guys than hang out with Emily. He was not the marrying type. When Emily figured this out she bought some arsenic from a druggist. The townspeople thought she was going to use the arsenic to kill herself. However the next week they were sure homer and Emily would get married because Emily had been seen at the jeweler’s ordering a man’s toilet set in silver, with the letters H.B. on each piece. Two days later she was seen buying a complete outfit of men’s clothing, including a nightshirt. Homer was not seen for a week or so but he eventually came back into town and a neighbor saw the manservant let him in at the kitchen door.