Critical Analysis Of A Rose For Emily

William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” discusses the pitiful and lonely life of Emily Grierson from the perspective of the nosey townspeople. Emily’s peculiar and secluded personality is derived from the death of her father and inability to feel emotion and vulnerability again. Even after she lets a man into her life, she doesn’t treat him like a normal woman would. In order to maintain Emily’s reputation, the townspeople do everything they can to cover up for her strange actions that she does out of loneliness. William Faulkner purposefully chooses the townspeople to narrate “A Rose for Emily” in order to maintain the dignity and reputation of Emily and to create a mysterious and suspenseful feel for the readers. The narrator of “A Rose for Emily” is the townspeople of Jefferson. Throughout the story there is proof of the point of view, specifically, when the

The author deliberately chooses the townspeople to narrate the story because the people of Jefferson have a very vested interested in the maintenance and preservation of Emily’s reputation. Throughout the story the townspeople take any and all measures to make sure this happens. Emily’s good name is directly connected to the townspeople’s reputation as well. Therefore, it is critical to them that they make Emily seem sane so that their reputation is not in danger. The town has a history of caring for and excusing Emily’s odd behavior. The townspeople take these measures in order to not only preserve Emily’s reputation, but the reputation of the town as well. The author even describes Emily as a “hereditary obligation upon the town” which proves their feeling of responsibility (Faulkner 454). Emily had repeatedly failed