Character development and narrative revelation in "A Rose for Emily

Emily through the eyes of the townspeople, who narrate William Faulkner's short story "A Rose for Emily." The townspeople's understanding of Emily is limited by prevailing norms and values: as a mysterious and almost antisocial woman, Emily subverts gender norms and roles in the traditional Southern community. Emily never marries, although she is rejected by two men. Her fear of abandonment is the only identifiable aspect of Emily's character, as her abandonment issues are made clear relatively early in the story: "After her father's death she went out very little; after her sweetheart went away, people hardly saw her at all," (Faulkner II). The final straw for Emily, what set her over the edge into committing a murder-suicide, was Homer Barron. Barron is described in terms almost as ambiguous as Emily herself. He is a Yankee -- a northerner -- and it may be that he was both a person of color and gay too. He is described as a "a big, dark, ready man, with a big voice and eyes lighter than his face," suggesting that he may have at least been of mixed race or African-American, from a free state in the North. (Faulkner III). If indeed Homer Barron was black, Emily's subversion of Southern social norms would have been striking. Furthermore, it is also implied that Homer Barron is openly gay, as "he liked men, and it was known that he drank with the younger men," (Faulkner, IV). Homer admits to not being a "marrying man," further evidence that he was likely gay, the main reason for his rejection of Emily's sexual advances and her desire to marry him (Faulkner IV). Unable to deal with the pain and humiliation of being spurned yet again, and feeling perhaps like a fool, Emily decides to kill both Homer and herself.

In many ways, Emily Grierson symbolizes the stagnation and death of slavery in American South. Her character is unapologetic, a mainstay of society and yet self-centered and self-absorbed, contributing nothing to the community. Like slavery, Emily plays no legitimate or real role in her town, yet the townspeople cannot escape her presence. When she dies, the town is rid of the last vestiges of a dying age yet still need to contend with the bitter aftermath of the institution of slavery: symbolized by death and the pitiful clinging to life. Emily was, in life and death, a "hereditary obligation upon the town," (Faulkner I). Emily's character does not change throughout the story, just as the nature of slavery never did change. Only her physical appearance -- superficial and external things like her hair color and her weight -- change as she ages. Like the enduring presence of racism in the South, Emily's personality does not change.

Although she represents a dying age, Emily usurps traditional gender norms in Southern society by refusing to marry. Her lack of interest in settling down with a husband cannot be viewed as a conscious decision, as she seems to love Homer Barron and does try to get married not once, but twice. When it turns out that Homer Barron is not interested in Emily other than as a friend, Emily cannot handle being rejected once again. The "rose for Emily" in the title symbolizes the delicate nature of Emily's psyche. She is emotionally and psychologically delicate, like a flower. Like roses, too, Emily has a prickly side, as the townspeople learn when Emily refuses to pay her taxes. Emily's refusal to pay taxes mirrors her subversion of the prevailing social norms. She does not want to participate in any aspect of Southern life, and instead she hides from it and ultimately runs from it.

Emily changes little, except that she grows fat when she ages and her hair turns grey. Early in her life she was a "slight woman," small of stature, petite, but later she became a "small, fat woman" with iron-grey hair (Faulkner IV). The townspeople describe her in contradictory terms, though, as no person was close to Emily and none actually knew the woman well enough to describe her character well. Terms like "dear, inescapable, impervious, tranquil, and perverse," all describe Emily (Faulkner IV). She is also known for coming across as "dry and cold," (Faulkner I). Overall, Emily is defined by her loneliness and isolation, but also her willingness to live her own life regardless of what other people thought. Emily retains a strong sense of pride and dignity, knowing that she was mistrusted and vilified in the community and yet she still "carried her head high enough," even when the townspeople "believed she was fallen," (Faulkner III). The townspeople did not like or understand Emily, but remain morbidly fascinated with her. When it is presumed she will kill herself, no one tries to stop her and no one is concerned. On the contrary, the townspeople "all said, 'She will kill herself'; and we said it would be the best thing," (Faulkner IV). Again, like slavery, Emily was both vilified and revered in the contradictory culture of the American South.

Ultimately, readers learn more about Southern attitudes, culture, and social norms than about Emily herself in Faulkner's story. The townspeople come across as being narrow-minded, lacking in compassion. They turn a blind eye to Emily's suffering, not caring whether she lives or dies and allowing her to kill herself. The townspeople feel pity for Emily but not empathy, as she is an outlier in the community. As a reader, my feelings and attitudes about Emily are conflicted. I sympathize with a woman who feels alone all her life. She only had her father, and after he died, she had no one on her side. As the culture of the South changes rapidly around her, Emily feels increasingly isolated. Moreover, Emily's socio-economic status had once depended on the institution of slavery and now that whites can no longer use the labor of slaves, they struggle financially. Being a woman without political power or economic independence, Emily finds herself in a terrible position. The townspeople feel sorry for her, which is why she is able to avoid paying the local taxes, but she is viewed as a burden the town is glad to be rid of: a "tradition, a duty, and a care; a sort of hereditary obligation upon the town," (Faulkner I).

Works Cited

Faulkner, William. "A Rose for Emily." Retrieved online: http://xroads.virginia.edu/~drbr/wf_rose.html