What Does Homer's Sexuality In A Rose For Emily

Caesar’s Take on Homer’s Sexuality in “A Rose for Emily” In Emily Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily”, Homer Barron has been a questionable subject of homosexuality for “some fifteen years” (Caesar). Although most people assume that Homer is a homosexual, I would have to disagree. On the other hand, there is some evidence that Homer is gay. In my opinion, the critics are jumping to conclusions when it comes to assuming that Homer is a homosexual when basing it off the lines “he liked men, and it was known that he drank with younger men at the Elk’s Club—that he was not a marrying man.” (Faulkner 187). Throughout my experience with literature, I learned to diagnose a character with anything that is medical or psychological. The result of that experience

During this period that “A Rose for Emily” was published in 1930, being attracted to the same sex “could evoke violence” and could cause the individual to keep their orientation private. Some would take it to levels that require an opposite sex to make it apparent to others that they are not gay. In this story, there are rumors that this might be the case. Emily Grierson could be used as a façade. The idea of a gay person to have a “fake” partner to cover up their secret has been around for years and years, and this story is not an exception to that method. Yes, it is possible, but is it probable that Emily Grierson is just a cover-up for Homer? More than likely, not. In the beginning paragraph of the article, it claims “students continue to assume that homosexuality explains Barron’s reluctance to marry Emily Grierson.” Some might read the literature in that way and perceive the text by making numerous assumptions and coincidences. During the twenty-first century, I have found that many younger people are not as bothered by homosexuality as much as Generation X or Generation Y. Seeing that the older the people, the less tolerance there is for homosexuals, I can see this debate being a huge problem during the time of the publication in 1930 and further on. Homosexuality was a big deal during the middle of the 1900s

I completely agree that Faulkner more than likely did not intent for Homer to come off as gay, but the readers took it a different way than she anticipated. Although some of the evidence that the story provides might be convincing to some, the facts are not there to reverse my thoughts on Homer and his sexuality. The underlying evidence is excessively compact in “A Rose for Emily” to assume that he is gay as well. Anything from assuming saying that “he liked boys” means that he has a love for them as in a relationship, but maybe he likes them as in being friends and cohorts. Along with that statement, Faulkner mentions, “he liked drinking with younger boys at Elk’s Club” which also can conclude that he merely just enjoys their company more. I can see the evidence of him being a pedophile on the other hand because he does not say man, but instead says boy. At the end, the article that Caesar presented did not have enough hard evidence to turn away from my beliefs of Homer’s sexuality from the beginning, considering that I never thought Homer was either gay or straight prior to reading this