"A Rose For Emily" by William Faulkner - Foreshadowing

Foreshadowing is often used by an author to heighten the interest in the story. The

author of "A Rose for Emily" foreshadows the discovery of Homer Barron's body in a

few different ways. The smell that develops around Emily's house, and Homer never

returning to Emily's house are both foreshadowing what happens later in the story. When

Emily went into the drug store saying "' I want the best you have. I don't care what

kind'",(William Faulkner) and purchased rat poison, it immediately informed the reader

that somebody is the story was going to die. While reading this story, I believed that

Emily purchased the rat poison in order to kill herself, not Homer Barron. Right at the

end of the story, when the door to the house gets opened, the Negro immediately leaves,

which indicates that he has got something to hide. We soon find out that he indeed had

something to hide, Homer Barron's body.

Emily Grierson's portrayal of reality is completely different from the reality

surrounding her. Emily doesn't allow the mayor to put up a mailbox in front of her house,

and refuses to accept the fact that there might be mail coming to her house. She believes

that since she doesn't have any actual friends, there will be no mail getting delivered to

her house. She believes that since nobody is friends with her, she should have no mail.

Emily refuses to accept a lot of things. She also refuses to pay taxes because she has "'no

taxes in Jefferson (William Faulkner). After her father's death Emily had been dismissed

of paying taxes and had still not realized that time had gone by and things had changed.

Emily also refused to accept her father's death and follow the rules at the pharmacy

when asked to identify the reason she that she needs rat poison. Emily Grierson does not

seem to understand that things change as time passes by. Homer may have changed his

mind about being with Emily, but Emily did not want to accept this fact. This may have

caused her to keep Homer with her forever, in her own, sick, twisted way.