2. Published in the April 30, 1930
Author: William Faulkner
Genres: Southern Gothic
Country: United States of America
3. Rose
A rose stands for life, beauty, love, passion, and even death.
Miss Emily lived a life that involved much death and denial, but she
didn't have much love or passion.
The rose is a tribute to her life and her death, also serving to
symbolize Homer Barron's death.
In the end, Homer was found all dried out and had been kept in Emily's
room in the attic for her to cherish.
The irony is that Emily's life wasn't beautiful at all, but a rose is one of
nature's most beautiful creations.
4. Characters:
Emily Grierson - The object of fascination in the story A eccentric recluse,
Emily is a mysterious figure who changes from a vibrant and
hopeful young girl to a cloistered and secretive old woman.
Homer Barron- Homer, much like Emily, is an outsider, a stranger in town who
becomes the subject of gossip. the narrator portrays him as
either a homosexual or simply an eternal bachelor, dedicated to
his single status and uninterested in marriage.
5. Judge Stevens- A mayor of Jefferson. Eighty years old, Judge
Stevens attempts to delicately handle the complaints about the
smell emanating from the Grierson property. To be respectful
of Emily’s pride and former position in the community, he and
the aldermen decide to sprinkle lime on the property in the
middle of the night.
Mr. Grierson- Emily’s father. Mr. Grierson is a controlling, looming presence even
in death, and the community clearly sees his lasting influence over
Emily. He deliberately thwarts Emily’s attempts to find a husband
in order to keep her under his control. We get glimpses of him in
the story: in the crayon portrait kept on the gilt-edged easel in
the parlor, and silhouetted in the doorway, horsewhip in hand,
having chased off another of Emily’s suitors.
6. Tobe- Emily’s servant. Tobe, his voice supposedly rusty from lack of
use, is the only lifeline that Emily has to the outside world. For
years, he dutifully cares for her and tends to her needs.
Eventually the townspeople stop grilling him for information
about Emily. After Emily’s death, he walks out the back door
and never returns.
Colonel Sartoris - A former mayor of Jefferson. Colonel
Sartoris absolves Emily of any tax burden after the death
of her father. His elaborate and benevolent gesture is not
heeded by the succeeding generation of town leaders.
8. Genres: Southern Gothic
Southern Gothic
is a literary tradition that came into its own in the early twentieth century.
Gothic writers concocted
wild, frighteningscenarios in whichmysterious secrets,
supernatural occurrences,
and characters’ extreme duress conspired to create a breathless reading experience.
9. Summary:
The story begins at the huge funeral for Miss Emily Grierson. Nobody has been to her
house in ten years, except for her servant. Her house is old, but was once the best house around.
The town had a special relationship with Miss Emily ever since it decided to stop billing her for
taxes in 1894. But, the "newer generation" wasn't happy with this arrangement, and so they paid
a visit to Miss Emily and tried to get her to pay the debt.
She refused to acknowledge that the old arrangement might not work any more, and flatly
refused to pay.
10. Thirty years before, the tax collecting townspeople had a strange encounter with Miss Emily about
a bad smell at her place.
This was about two years after her father died, and a short time after her lover disappeared from
her life.
Anyhow, the stink got stronger and complaints were made, but the authorities didn't want to
confront Emily about the problem.
So, they sprinkled lime around the house and the smell was eventually gone.
Everybody felt sorry for Emily when her father died. He left her with the house, but no money.
When he died, Emily refused to admit it for three whole days.
11. The town didn't think she was "crazy then," but assumed that she just didn't want to let go of her
dad, (even though you could argue that he had stolen her youth from her).
Next, the story doubles back and tells us that not too long after her father died Emily begins
dating Homer Barron, who is in town on a sidewalk-building project.
The town heavily disapproves of the affair and brings Emily's cousins to town to stop the
relationship.
One day, Emily is seen buying arsenic at the drugstore, and the town thinks that Homer is giving
her the shaft, and that she plans to kill herself.
12. When she buys a bunch of men's items, they think that she and Homer are going to get
married.
Homer leaves town, then the cousins leave town, and then Homer comes back.
He is last seen entering Miss Emily's house.
Emily herself rarely leaves the home after that, except for a period of half a dozen years when
she gives painting lessons.
Her hair turns gray, she gains weight, and she eventually dies in a downstairs bedroom that
hasn't seen light in many years. The story cycles back to where it began, at her funeral.
13. Tobe, miss Emily's servant, lets in the town women and then leaves by the backdoor forever.
After the funeral, and after Emily is buried, the townspeople go upstairs to break into the room
that they know has been closed for forty years.
Inside, they find the corpse of Homer Barron, rotting in the bed.
On the dust of the pillow next to Homer they find an indentation of a head, and there, in the
indentation, a long, gray hair.
