Analysis Of William Faulkner's 'A Rose For Emily'
Was Miss Emily an overlooked murder suspect? William Faulkner; born in 1897, was an American writer and Nobel Prize laureate from Oxford, Mississippi. Faulkner wrote short stories, novels, a play, poetry, essays, and screenplays. One of his most well-known short stories called “A Rose for Emily” tells a story about how a woman by the name of Emily Grierson, poisons her husband, whose name is Homer Baron, and keeps his body in her house for numerous years. Nobody expects Miss Emily to be the suspect in Homer’s murder. Why did everyone overlook Emily as the suspect in the murder of Homer Baron? An analysis on William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” suggests three reasons why everyone overlooked Emily as the suspect in the murder of Homer Baron,
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“The Negro man went in and out with the market basket, but the front door remained closed” (455). Every now and then Miss Emily will appear in one of the windows, but nobody sees Homer. Nobody finds it suspicious that Homer seems to be gone because after all, neither Homer nor Miss Emily has a reason to leave the house since they have a Negro servant to run the errands for them. Everyone assumes the two are living and growing old in the house together. The house is all that Miss Emily has left after her father dies. Her father left the house for her to have, which to her is where she feels safe. Since her father was in the military, she did not have to pay taxes, at least that is what she thinks. Miss Emily considers herself to be the nobility in this town. “Each December we sent her a tax notice, which would be returned by the post office a week later, unclaimed” (455). It isn’t until after Miss Emily passes away that everyone finds out that Homer Baron passes away too, but it seems that his death comes much earlier than hers. There is no way for them to figure out exactly how Homer dies, but they do know that it is long before Miss Emily dies. Because nobody ever goes into that house until after they both pass, everyone completely overlooks Miss Emily as a suspect in the murder of Homer
“The Negro man went in and out with the market basket, but the front door remained closed” (455). Every now and then Miss Emily will appear in one of the windows, but nobody sees Homer. Nobody finds it suspicious that Homer seems to be gone because after all, neither Homer nor Miss Emily has a reason to leave the house since they have a Negro servant to run the errands for them. Everyone assumes the two are living and growing old in the house together. The house is all that Miss Emily has left after her father dies. Her father left the house for her to have, which to her is where she feels safe. Since her father was in the military, she did not have to pay taxes, at least that is what she thinks. Miss Emily considers herself to be the nobility in this town. “Each December we sent her a tax notice, which would be returned by the post office a week later, unclaimed” (455). It isn’t until after Miss Emily passes away that everyone finds out that Homer Baron passes away too, but it seems that his death comes much earlier than hers. There is no way for them to figure out exactly how Homer dies, but they do know that it is long before Miss Emily dies. Because nobody ever goes into that house until after they both pass, everyone completely overlooks Miss Emily as a suspect in the murder of Homer