What were your thoughts after reading "A Rose for Emily"? What impressions did the story leave in your mind? How does the author hint at the story’s ending? Were you anticipating that final paragraph?
“A Rose for Emily” was a bit of a shocker. Although I wondered if some prodigious secret lay behind the sealed doorway to the upstairs room, I still did not guess that Miss Grierson killed her last lover. Despite the fact that the horrible stench which caused many neighbors to file complaints should have been a significant clue, I did not consider such a horrific finale. I wonder at what feelings overtook Emily to instigate such emotion as to incite such a deed.
Faulkner’s short story left several impressions in my mind. In beginning, the age-old proverb that appearances can deceive enters my mind. Miss Emily seems to be an old and never married recluse who refuses the company of any but her negro manservant. Sympathy is an initial response to such a poor elderly woman without family, friends, or hope for a better life. Miss Emily’s affair with Homer Barron amuses the town gossips for a time before causing pity to arise amongst them. Faulkner’s story provides an excellent example of the damage that may be done through gossip and the peer pressure that evolves from it, as undoubtedly Miss Emily was well aware of the curious stares and less than silent whispers as she would pass by in the horse-drawn buggy. Perhaps the pressure to uphold the “noblesse oblige” of her family name via a proper marriage and appropriate relationships led Miss Emily to her last desperate attempt to hold on to what she considered her last chance to redeem herself to society.
Although the author hints at the story’s ending on several occasions, I still did not accurately conjecture about the ending. Dependent on the town (to pay her taxes) after her father’s death, Miss Emily undoubtedly experiences social and financial embarrassment at this undesirable fact. Furthermore, before his death, her father squelched what Emily considered her last real chance at love, marriage, and family. When Homer Barron happened along and expressed interest in her, Emily attached herself to him like a leech. The townspeople gossiped and conjectured, but Emily believed that at last she had truly found unhindered love, and in a sense would redeem herself by losing her bachelorette or “old maid” status. Anyone paying close attention should have guessed that Emily simply could not and would not accept betrayal and rejection from another man. After Homer Barron’s disappearance, the overwhelming stench that permeated the walls of her home and so greatly upset her, as well as any passersby, should have been a significant indication that something was not quite normal around Miss Emily’s home and the surrounding actions. In addition, the noticeable disuse of the second floor of her home could have been a clue to and alert and cautious observer.
The scene of the crime was an interesting sight, for not only was the slain body of her lover Barron found, but it appeared that she had lain with the slaughtered for a time, leaving the pillow indented and locks of her own hair behind.
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