A Rose For Emily

“A rose for Emily”



1. Reconstruct the time-line of the store. Try to put all the events of the story in order and to provide dates for some of them.

Reconstruction of the time line ofthe story:

-Emily is thirty and is still single.
-Her father dies and gives her all his belongings.
-The Colonel remits her taxes.
-Homer and Emily walks together.
-A few years laterEmily buys poison.
-Homer returns, then of a short absence due to the visit of Emily’s cousins.
-Homer disappears.
-The neightbours complain about the smell that comes from Emily’s house.
-Emilygives painting lessons at fourty years old for six or seven years.
-The next generation tries to get taxes out of her and go to see her.
-Emily dies of an illness at seventy four years old.-Homer’s body is found in Emily’s house.

2. The story takes place in Jefferson, Yoknapatawpha County, in the South, the setting for most of Faulkner’s stories and novels. What is the image of theSouth portrayed in this story? Think about the contrast between the North and the Old South.

The image of the South portrayed in the story is full of honor and traditions (like Miss Emily) whilethe North is more changing and free (like Homer).


3. The story is told by “we”. Who do you imagine this narrator (or narrators) to be? Young or old? Male or female? Both? What is their attitudetoward Emily? How does that attitude affect Emily?

I imagine the narrators are the townspeople. All the people that got to know her and witnessed her life. About their attitude I’d say that theyfeel sorry for her (they are always saying “poor Emily”). The reason of that feeling is probably because they all knew her father and the story behind her family. That is why they take pity of her.
Ithink that Emily makes use of that feeling to achieve her purpose: to be left alone with her love without other people interfering.

4. Consider the story as a detective story. Analyze the...