“A Rose for Emily” is a successful story not only because of its intricately complex chronology, but also because of its unique narrative point of view. Most critics incorrectly consider the narrator, who uses “we” as though speaking for the entire town, to be young, impressionable, and male; however, on […]
Read more Summary and Analysis: “A Rose for Emily” The Narrator’s Point of ViewSummary and Analysis: “A Rose for Emily” Section V
We return to the present and Miss Emily’s funeral. Her black servant meets the mourners, who arrive at the house, then he walks out the back door and disappears forever, apparently fully aware that Homer’s decayed body is upstairs. Even in death, Miss Emily cannot escape her father: “They held […]
Read more Summary and Analysis: “A Rose for Emily” Section VSummary and Analysis: “A Rose for Emily” Section IV
The townspeople, never suspecting that the poison is intended for Homer, conclude that Miss Emily will likely use it to kill herself. After Homer announces to the men that he is not the marrying kind, the townspeople think that his and Miss Emily’s relationship is a disgrace, and they try […]
Read more Summary and Analysis: “A Rose for Emily” Section IVSummary and Analysis: “A Rose for Emily” Section III
During the summer after Mr. Grierson’s death, Homer Barron, a happy-go-lucky type who “was not a marrying man,” and his construction crew begin to pave the town’s sidewalks. Soon the townspeople begin to see Miss Emily and Homer often riding together in a buggy. At first, they acknowledge her right […]
Read more Summary and Analysis: “A Rose for Emily” Section IIISummary and Analysis: “A Rose for Emily” Section II
We return to the past, two years after Miss Emily’s father’s death. There have been complaints about an awful stench emanating from Miss Emily’s house. The older generation, which feels that it is improper to tell a lady that she stinks, arranges for a group of men to spread lime […]
Read more Summary and Analysis: “A Rose for Emily” Section IISummary and Analysis: “A Rose for Emily” Section I
The story’s opening lines announce the funeral of Miss Emily, to be held in her home — not in a church — and the reasons for the entire town’s attending-the men out of respect for a Southern lady, the women to snoop inside her house. Her death symbolizes the passing […]
Read more Summary and Analysis: “A Rose for Emily” Section ISummary and Analysis: “A Rose for Emily” Faulkner’s Chronology
One way of explaining the excellence of “A Rose for Emily” is by considering its lack of chronological order. Such a dissection of the short story initially might appear to weaken it, but this approach allows us to see Faulkner’s genius at work — particularly his own, unique way of […]
Read more Summary and Analysis: “A Rose for Emily” Faulkner’s ChronologySummary and Analysis: “A Rose for Emily” Introduction
Faulkner’s most famous, most popular, and most anthologized short story, “A Rose for Emily” evokes the terms Southern gothic and grotesque, two types of literature in which the general tone is one of gloom, terror, and understated violence. The story is Faulkner’s best example of these forms because it contains […]
Read more Summary and Analysis: “A Rose for Emily” IntroductionIntroduction to Yoknapatawpha County
In his third novel, Flags in the Dust, Faulkner created a mythological Mississippi county and named it Yoknapatawpha (Yawknaw-puh-toff-uh), with its county seat in Jefferson. This particular novel, however, was not published during Faulkner’s lifetime; it appeared posthumously in 1973. What did appear in 1929 was a heavily edited and […]
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