Key fact

1. Key fact Key Fact Full title: A Rose for Emily Author: William Faulkner Type of work: short story Genre：Gothic Protagonist: Miss Emily Grierson

2. A Rose for Emily William Faulkner

3. The Nobel Prize in Literature 1949 "for his powerful and artistically unique contribution to the modern American novel" William FaulknerAmerican Writer1897-1962

4. Section1 Section2: Emily’s life Section3: Homer Barron Section4: poison & death Section5: funeral Miss Emily’s funeral The town & Miss Emily

5. Section one As the story begins, the unnamed narrator gives a detailed description of Miss Emily's funeral. It is stated that the whole town was present for the funeral. The narrator describes the motivation for the town's attendance: "the men through a sort of respectful affection for a fallen monument, the women mostly out of curiosity to see the inside of her house". The curiosity created by the town was due to Miss Emily's life of privacy. No individual had seen the inside of her house, with the exception of Miss Emily's "Negro" servant, in the last ten years leading up to her death. The first section of this short story additionally includes a description of the history behind the town's relations to Miss Emily. The narrator comments: "Miss Emily had been a tradition, a duty, and a care; a sort of hereditary obligation upon the town" .This obligation began in the year 1894 when Miss Emily's father died; he left her nothing but the house. That year the town's mayor told Miss Emily she was exempt from all taxes because the town owed her father. Miss Emily accepted his exemption and the tradition began. As this section comes to an end, a new mayor tries to get Miss Emily to start paying taxes, but she refuses.

6. Section two • The second section of "A Rose for Emily" describes Miss Emily's life shortly after her father's death. This section displays Miss Emily as a woman in deep denial. She actually tried to hide her father's dead body, but the wretched smell eventually drove the town to intervene: "Just as they were about to resort to law and force, she broke down, and they buried her father quickly". The narrator ends this section by saying, "We did not say she was crazy then. We believed she had to do that".

7. Section three • The third section of this short story begins with the narrator saying Miss Emily was sick for a long time. This section then goes on to introduce Homer Barron, a "Yankee" construction worker, who was brought to town as the foreman of a company for paving the sidewalks of Jefferson. Miss Emily quickly grew fond of Homer, and they began spending every Sunday together. The town could not understand Miss Emily's relationship with Homer; they started saying "Poor Emily." Over a year later Miss Emily went to the drugstore and bought arsenic. The druggist asked Miss Emily what her intentions were for this poison, but she would not answer him.

8. Section four • The fourth section began with the town's speculations of Miss Emily's need for poison. The narrator stated, "So the next day we all said, 'She will kill herself'; and we said it would be the best thing". After this initial reaction, the women of the town decided Miss Emily's suicide would be a disgrace. The ladies forced the Baptist Minister to visit Miss Emily. Although he would never say what happened that day, he would not go back. The minister's wife then decided to write Miss Emily's estranged relatives in Alabama, and in return two of her female cousins came for a visit, and Homer disappeared. After some time, the cousins went back to Alabama, and Homer went back to Miss Emily. The narrator says that was the last time Homer was ever seen. This section closed with Miss Emily's death, at age seventy-four.

9. Section five • The fifth, and final, section returns to the funeral of Miss Emily Grierson. The narrator says that her "Negro" servant opened Miss Emily's door and vanished forever. The funeral was held on the second day after Miss Emily's death. Upon her burial, the town began an inspection of the house that was closed for the last ten years. What they found was astonishing. Miss Emily had been hiding Homer's dead body. He was laid out in a bed; next to him was an imprint, and one of her long gray hairs.