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A Rose for Emily

A Review of Faulkner 's A Rose for Emily

A Rose for Emily is a macabre short story that gives us a glimpse of Southern American life in the late 1800 's and early 1900 's . It is a tale of repression , and can be considered a study in abnormal psychology . It also demonstrates that privilege ' can actually be a curse , rather than a blessing

In chronological , the events associated with Emily Grierson are as follows : Emily is born . When she comes of age , her father drives away all suitors , saying that

they are not worthy of her . Emily is already in her twenties - well into marrying age - when her father dies she denies that he is dead for three days . One day , Homer Barron , a gregarious laborer , arrives in town . He courts Emily , and they are afterwards presumed to be having an affair . The townspeople 's sense of morals are affronted the minister 's wife sends for Emily 's cousins to put a stop to the relationship . The two cousins arrive , but are even worse than Emily , and nothing is done about the relationship . Sometime later Emily is seen buying a man 's silver toilet set , and a man 's clothes , so most people assume Emily and Homer have married secretly . One day Homer leaves and is not seen for some time . Then the cousins leave , and three days later Homer Barron returns . Emily buys arsenic at a drug store without stating her purpose as required by law . Homer is not seen again after that . When a strong stench is detected by the townspeople around Emily 's house , four men secretly sprinkle lime on her lawn . Some months later , when Emily appears again in public , her hair has been cut short she has grown fat , and her hair has turned gray . Emily starts giving china-painting lessons to earn money . This goes on for many years , but eventually no one wants the lessons anymore . After many more years Emily dies , and on the day of the funeral Emily 's Negro servant admits townspeople , paying last respects , into the house then the servant goes away and is not seen again . Emily 's cousins arrive . The locked room upstairs is forced open , and a man 's long-dead body is discovered inside . Beside the corpse 's head is an indentation in the pillow , on which lay a strand of long iron-gray hair

The story itself is presented in non-chronological , where we discover only little by little the influences that caused Emily 's degenerate state . This is one of the reasons for the story 's power the final paragraph 's position is important primarily in maintaining interest in the story . If the story had been told in chronological , events would have been predictable and the overall effect would be severely degraded . The only surprise would have been that Emily was indeed insane because she used to sleep with Homer 's corpse

The main influence on Emily that drove her to insanity...

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