Summary Of William Faulkner's A Rose For Emily

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Most every woman in the world has some level of crazy to her; some more than others. In the short story, “A Rose for Emily”, William Faulkner writes about a woman by the name of Ms. Emily Grierson. Ms. Emily grew up living a closed life. Her father didn’t let her get out of the house much which caused severe psychological issues. After her father dies, she lives alone in the oldest house in the neighborhood with just a servant named Tobe. After some time, Ms. Emily meets a man named Homer Barron. Homer is a strange man but Ms. Emily loves him dearly, unfortunately, he never feels the same way towards her. Before long, Homer disappears. Everyone in town thought for sure that Ms. Emily would kill herself. But, contrary to their belief, Ms. Emily …show more content…

Emily. One of the first indications of Ms. Emily’s craziness is that she believes she doesn’t have to pay taxes in Jefferson. After her fathered died, Colonel Sartoris, the mayor of Jefferson, made up a tall tale and told Ms. Emily that due to the town owing her father a great debt, she would no longer have to pay taxes in Jefferson. After he died and was no longer mayor, the new mayor tried to get Ms. Emily to begin paying her taxes again but she was still under the assumption that Colonel Sartoris was still the mayor. Faulkner shows this in the story by writing, “her voice was dry and cold. ‘I have no taxes in Jefferson. Colonel Sartoris explained it to me. Perhaps one of you can gain access to the city records and satisfy yourselves.’” (Faulkner 1) The strange thing about this statement is that Colonel Sartoris has actually been dead for ten years but Ms. Emily is still persistent on not paying taxes. Even this early in the story, Ms. Emily is already showing signs of not being able to let things …show more content…

Instead of Ms. Emily just making up a simple lie and telling the druggist what she plans to use the poison for, which is required by law, Faulkner writes, “Miss Emily just stares at him, her head tilted back, in order to look him eye for eye, until he looked away and went and got the arsenic and wrapped it up.” (Faulkner 4) The way Ms. Emily displays such strange behavior toward the druggist is a clear indication that she has severe mental instabilities. Even though anyone could purchase arsenic at that time, the druggist should never have sold it to her being she never provided him with the information of its use. Not too long after she purchases the arsenic, the strange smell began to develop around her house. Coincidentally, Homer Barron had disappeared. Homer was never seen again until Ms. Emily dies. The day of her funeral the townspeople knew that only one room upstairs has remained unseen for forty years and would have to be forced open. Of course, they waited until Ms. Emily was buried before they opened the door. Once the door was opened and the dust was settled they discovered what had been locked in that room for so long. Poor Homer Barron never made it out of Ms. Emily’s house alive. As he lay there in the bed, someone noticed an indentation upon the neighboring pillow, and in that indentation lay a strand of Ms. Emily’s gray hair indicating

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