Emily's Rose

Joby Mattingly

Mrs. S. Aiken

English 1102-45

Sept. 29, 2009





In William Faulkner’s short story, A Rose for Emily, he sums and portrays a town’s mystery. Miss Emily Grierson falls in love with this out of town Yankee foreman named Homer Barron. Well Homer was quite the character for a woman like Miss Emily to fall in love with because Homer was homosexual. He used to sit at the Elk’s Club and drink with younger men. Homer had remarked that he liked men, that he was not a marrying man. But Miss Emily thought other wise. Since she knew she couldn’t have him, she took matters into her own hands. She went to the local pharmacists and bought some arsenic (rat poison). The townspeople saw less and less of Homer until one day, they never saw him at all. Miss Emily murdered Homer Barron. As they read this story a person can begin to wonder if Miss Emily was solely responsible for Homer’s death and did she have any accomplices? Why do the townspeople consider her a duty, a tradition? In what way is she their fallen monument?
Some people might wonder is Miss Emily totally responsible for Homer’s death and did she have any accomplices? Well I believe that she’s not the only one involved. When she went to the pharmacists to get the arsenic, the pharmacists asked her what she was using it for, because that’s the law. He asked her, and she just stared at him. Then he went and got the arsenic for her. If he would have stayed there and made her answer then maybe she would’ve thought twice about getting it. But he let Miss Emily intimidate him, which resulted him to give in to her. The townspeople thought that by her buying the arsenic she was going to kill herself. Others might also believe that her “butler” Tobe might have helped her in this murder. Tobe was the person that took care of Miss Emily and was the one that let Homer inside, which was the last time the townspeople saw Homer. Tobe had to have known about it and also helped Miss Emily. She was so old that she couldn’t have moved or put the body in the bed where Homer was found. Tobe was the only one that could have done that. When the townspeople found out that Miss Emily had died, Tobe let the ladies and Miss Emily’s cousins inside. He showed them her body and the next thing he slipped out the back door and was never seen again after that. So therefore I do believe that Tobe and the pharmacists both play a role in Homer Barron’s death.
The townspeople consider Miss Emily a “duty, a tradition”. I think by when they say this, their meaning that it’s the towns job to stay on top of Miss Emily, to stay on top of all the gossip. Miss Emily was what the whole town talked about. They basically knew everything about Miss Emily but they didn’t know the most important thing. Which was when Homer went missing. They didn’t but the clues together to find out what was really going on until it happened. Miss Emily’s aunt Grierson was literally crazy. She was sent to a crazy house, where others thought Miss Emily needed to be. Since all these crazy things were happening, it seemed that she needed to follow in her aunt’s footsteps. But nobody had the guts to tell her about anything. It even took the City Board of Aldermen to go to her house and confront her of her taxes. And she still refused to pay them. When people started to complain about the odor coming from her house, they called the mayor, Judge Stevens first and he wouldn’t do anything about it. Later on he got another complaint about the odor. The mayor just told the people that it was a dead rat or snake that the Negro man had killed. Later on he got some men to go to her house and pour some lime out. About two weeks later, the odor was gone.
In the story the townspeople also believe that Miss Emily is their “fallen monument.” I believe that they referred to as this because she was the talk of the town. Some of the people in the town literally grew up with her, gossiping about her every move. As they talked about her, throughout all those years, she was growing and changing right before there eyes. They may not have put the pieces together right then, but they saw her prepare and plan Homer Barron’s death. Miss Emily was a sneaky woman, but it was like she was also living in her own little world. It seemed like they looked at her as if she were a statue in a town square that everyone knew about and it was some of the history of the town. But when she died, that statue fell right there as it stood, and Miss Emily as they knew her was gone.
In conclusion Faulkner’s short story “A Rose for Emily”, a lot of times and dates when things happen are very mixed up. But I believe that’s what makes this story so unique. As someone reads this story they will not believe the ending. As they read this story a person can begin to wonder if Miss Emily was solely responsible for Homer’s death and did she have any accomplices? Why do the townspeople consider her a duty, a tradition? And in what way is she their fallen monument? So if you’re like the townspeople in this story, don’t underestimate the “Miss Emily” in your town.