The Chronology of William Faulkner’s A Rose for Emily

After she is buried, a group of townsfolk enters her house to see what remains of her life there. The door to her upstairs bedroom is locked; some of the townsfolk break down the door to see what has been hidden for so long. Inside, among the possessions that Emily had bought for Homer, lies the decomposed corpse of Homer Barron on the bed; on the pillow beside him is the indentation of a head and a single strand of gray hair, indicating that Emily had slept with Homer's corpse.

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Emily Grierson - The main character of the story. Emily's father kept her from seeing suitors and controlled her social life, essentially keeping her in isolation until his death, when she is 30 years old. Her struggle with loss and attachment is the impetus for the plot, driving her to kill Homer Barron, the man that is assumed to have married her. Because no man has ever been able to stay with her before, Emily poisons and kills Homer.

She sees murder as the only way to keep Homer with her permanently, and she treats him as if he is her husband even after she kills him. This is shown by her keeping his clothes in the room, keeping his engraved wedding items on the dresser, and even sleeping with him, all acts that normal married couples do. Her act of murdering Homer also displays her obstinate nature. Emily deals in absolutes throughout the story. She has her servant Tobe follow the same patterns, such as his grocery errands. She kills Homer to ensure that he will never leave her.

Homer Barron - Emily's romantic interest. He is later found dead and decomposed in Emily's bedroom after her funeral. He initially enters the story as a foreman for a road construction project occurring in the town. He is soon seen to be with Emily in her Sunday carriage rides, and it is soon expected for them to be married.

Homer differs from the rest of the town because he is a Northerner. The story takes place in the South shortly after the Civil War, and while Homer is not necessarily unwelcome to the town, he does stand out. This, along with the fact that he is seemingly courting Emily, sets him apart from all of the other characters in the story.

It is because he is an outlier that Emily becomes attracted to him. It is generally unknown if Homer reciprocates the romantic feelings Emily has for him. Recently the topic of whether or not Homer is homosexual has been discussed and whether or not it factors into the story. The Narrator - An unnamed member s of the town who watched the events of Emily's life unfold in its entirety. The story is presented to the reader in a non-chronological order; this suggests that the story is being patched together by multiple people.

Colonel Sartoris - The former mayor who remitted Emily's taxes. The reason for Sartoris remitting her taxes is never given, only that he told Emily it was because her father loaned the money to the town. Grierson - Emily's father, the patriarchal head of the Grierson family. His control over Emily's personal life prohibited her from romantic involvement. The reason for his refusal to let Emily court men is not explained in the story. It could be that he is overprotective because he loves Emily too much. It could be because he believes that there is not a man good enough to marry his daughter.

It could be that he is set in his ways and does not want Emily to become distracted from her societal duties. Whatever the reason, Mr. Grierson shapes the person that Emily becomes. His decision to ban all men from her life drives her to kill the first man she is attracted to and can be with, Homer Barron, in order to keep him with her permanently. The cousins - Emily's extended relatives from Alabama. They come to town during Emily's courting of Homer Barron to check on Emily's well-being.

They are thought of as even more uptight and stuffy than Emily by the townspeople. They are called in to prevent Emily and Homer from marrying; however, they are later sent back home so that the two can be wed. During the years of Emily's isolation, he provides no details of her life to the townspeople and promptly disappears directly following her death.

He became old and stooped from all of his work while Emily grew large and immobile. This could suggest that he resented Emily, or at the very least disliked working for her, as he does not mourn her or stay for her funeral. Faulkner tells this story in a series of flashbacks and stretches the story out over decades.

This leads the reader to assume that she was an important figure in the town. Emily stuck out from the rest of the town as a figure stuck in the past, desperately trying to cling to old traditions and ways of life. With her passing on, the town can finally be free of this remnant, being wholly set in the present. Had the story been told in a linear fashion, this understanding would have been lost, something Faulkner knew and incorporated into the story.

By presenting the story in terms of present and past events, he could examine how they influence each other.

'A Rose for Emily'

In terms of mathematical precision, time moves on and what exists is only the present. In terms of the more subjective time, time moves on but memories can exist no matter how much time changes. Those memories stay unhindered. Through this Faulkner could analyze the depth at which Miss Emily could change as a character.

If Faulkner presented the story in a linear fashion, the chances of the reader sympathizing with Emily would be far less. By telling the story out of order, the reader sees Emily as a tragic product of her environment rather than a twisted necrophiliac. The story explores themes of death and resistance to change; they reflect the decaying of the societal tenets of the South in the s.

Likewise, the antiquated traditions of the south often harmful, such as in the treatment of black people had remained acceptable, as that was their way of living. Once her father had passed, Emily, in denial, refused to give his corpse up for burial—this shows her inability to functionally adapt to change. When the present mayor and aldermen insist Miss Emily pay the taxes which she had been exempted from, she refuses and continues to live in her house.

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The reader is only shown Emily from an external perspective, we can not ascertain whether she acts in a rational manner or not. The death of Homer, if interpreted as having been a murder, can be seen in the context of the North-South clash. Homer, notably a northerner, is not one for the tradition of marriage.

In the framework that his death was not an accident, but a murder on the part of Emily, Homer's rejection of the marriage can be seen as the North's rejection of Southern tradition. The South ends its relations with the North in retaliation. Emily continuing to sleep next to Homer's body can be seen as the south holding on to an ideal that is no longer feasible.

Control and its repercussions is a persistent theme throughout the story. Emily's father was an intimidating and manipulative figure, keeping her from experiencing life in her own terms. She was never able to grow, learn, live her life, start a family, and marry the one she truly loved. Even after Emily's father died, his presence and impact on his daughter were still apparent. Discussing Emily and her father, the townspeople said "We had long thought of them as a tableau, Miss Emily a slender figure in white in the background, her father a spraddled silhouette in the foreground, his back to her and clutching a horsewhip, the two of them framed by the back-flung front door.

She wears white, a symbol of innocence and purity. Emily falls victim to the ruling hand of her father and to her place in the society: This control leads to Emily's isolation, both externally and internally imposed. Emily is alone, yet always being watched by the townspeople; she is both apart from and a part of the community. The power of death is a consistent theme throughout the story. Emily herself is portrayed as a "skeleton" that is both "small and spare" which is representative of the fact that she emanates death. When it comes to death itself, Emily is in denial and most of that feeling has to do with her loneliness.

After her father dies, she keeps his corpse for three days and refuses to admit that he is dead. The reader also sees this with the corpse of Homer Barron, except she is the one who inflicts death upon him. She poisons him and keeps him locked away in her room; she did not want to lose the only other person she had ever loved, so she made his stay permanent.

These examples show that the power of death triumphs over everything, including "poor Emily", herself. Due to this inevitability in the portrayal of death, A Rose for Emily is seen as a tale based on determinism, making the short story part of the naturalism literary movement. If I arrange the story of A rose for Emily in order. Therefore, her father is so strict to her in choosing for her future husband. Her father wants her to have a high quality husband. When her father dies, miss Emily only get the house as an inheritance from her father with little or may be no money.

By the time the people mostly ladies visit her house to give help and say condolence, She tells them that her father is not dead. The ministers and the doctors persuade her to to let them dispose the body. There is a foreman whose name Homer Barron, a yankee- a big, dark, ready man, with a big voice and eyes lighter than his face. Then, he and miss Emily get to know each other through the time, and their relationship grows to become close. And the people around them, especially ladies, start to discuss, gossip and be jealous about their relationship.

They gossip about how pity Emily has become whenever she rides a small carriage around the town with Homer.

But, the narrator notes that Emily is still proud with herself. Third , Emily buys a poison called an arsenic from the druggist in that town. The druggist tells Emily that she has to tell him why she buys that poison because the law orders her to do so. However, she just stares at him until the druggist moves back and takes the arsenic to be wrapped. And he writes on the box, under the skull and bones: Fourth , the neighborhood think that she will commit suicide by taking that poison. Because, they think that Homer has rejected her marriage proposal.

He is wild and likes to hang out and get drunk in a pub or a bar with his friends. However, they still go together and are seen by the neighborhood. And the boldness of their relationship makes the ladies in town become more jealous. This fact, makes the town to believe that she will marry Homer. After that, Homer leaves Jefferson in order to give Emily the opportunity to get rid off her cousins away from her house.

Three days after the cousins leave Homer is back to Emily house. After that, Homer is never been seen anymore. People think that he has rejected Emily and leaves her just like that. Fifth , The neighbors of Emily complain about the bad smell coming from her house. After a week or two the smell goes away. Sixth , Emily is not seen in town for almost six months. When she is finally seen on the streets of Jefferson again, She becomes fat and her hair turns gray. Her house remains closed to visitors, except for a period of six or seven years when she gives china-painting lessons.

Seventh , The clash between the past and the present is evidenced by the different approaches that each generation takes concerning Miss Emily's taxes.