Name: Elaine Lualhati Name: Rey Dustin Alcantara

G10 – DIAMOND Group #5 April 17, 2023

A Literary Criticism of A Rose for Emily

by William Faulkner

A. Faulkner’s Background

William Cuthbert Faulkner was an American writer known for his novels and short stories set in
the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, based on Lafayette County, Mississippi, where Faulkner spent
most of his life.
Born:September 25, 1897, New Albany, Mississippi, United States
Died:July 6, 1962, Byhalia, Mississippi, United States
Some Books: The Sound And The Fury(1929) ,As I Lay Dying(1930), Light in August (1932)
Total Number of Novels: 13
B. Summary of the Work
The narrator describes how the village came together to attend Emily Grierson's burial in her house,
which had been empty for more than ten years, in section I. The last relic of a bygone era's
magnificence may be seen in Emily's house, which is located in an upmarket, once-elegant
neighborhood. After her father's passing, Colonel Sartoris, the town's former mayor, had deferred
Emily's tax obligations to the town, justifying the move by asserting that Mr. Grierson had once lent
the neighborhood a sizeable sum. They try in vain to persuade Emily to continue payments as the
new town council assumes power. Emily emphasizes once more that she is exempt from Jefferson's
tax requirements when the Board of Aldermen pays her a visit, advising the officials to speak with
Colonel Sartoris about the situation. But by that time, he had already passed away for about ten
years. She requests that her steward, Tobe, show the men away.
In the next part, the narrator relays the story of an incident that occurred thirty years prior when
Emily resisted a second official investigation on the town's behalf when residents noticed a strong
stink coming from her land. Emily's father recently passed away, and the town's residents thought
Emily was engaged to be married. Judge Stevens, the mayor at the time, decides to have lime
sprinkled around the Grierson house's foundation in the middle of the night as complaints rise. The
smell goes away after a few weeks, but the residents of the town start to feel sorry for Emily
because they know how her great aunt ended up going insane.The locals had always assumed that
the Griersons had an excessive sense of self-importance because Emily's father turned away
several suitors who he judged unworthy of marrying his daughter. By the time Emily reaches the
age of thirty, she is still unmarried. The day after Mr. Grierson's death, the women of the town
contact Emily to express their condolences. Emily greets them at the door and pretends that that
her dad is still alive, a ruse she maintains for three days. Finally, she prepares her father's remains
for burial.
The third half of the narrative plays Emily's protracted sickness as a result of this tragedy. The
municipality hires workers to pave the walkways the summer after her father's passing, and Homer
Barron's construction business is chosen to handle the task. Soon after, Homer gains recognition in
the community and is seen giving Emily rides in his buggy on Sunday afternoons, scandalizing the
community and raising their contempt and sympathy for Emily. They believe she is losing sight of
her familial honor by dating a man beneath her.Emily goes to the drug shop to get arsenic, a potent
poison, as the affair continues and her reputation suffers. She is compelled by law to disclose how
she intends to utilize the arsenic. She gives no explanation, and the delivery arrives labeled "For
rats."
The narrator discusses in Section IV the townspeople's dread that Emily may use the poison to kill
herself. Despite their continuous Sunday routine, her marriage to Homer seemed more unthinkable.
The town's most furious ladies demand that the Baptist preacher meet with Emily. He never talks
about what happened after his stay and swears he'll never return. So the minister's wife writes to
Emily's two cousins in Alabama, who are visiting for the first time. The couple's marriage is brought
up again when Emily orders a silver toilet set monogrammed with Homer's initials. Homer is said to
be out of town, perhaps preparing for Emily's departure to the north or avoiding Emily's watching
family.Homer visits the Grierson residence one evening after the cousins have left and is never seen
again. Emily becomes chubby and gray when cooped up in the house. Despite the seldom class in
pottery painting she provides, her door remains locked to strangers. Emily refuses to recognize the
tax bill, as has been an annual tradition. She finally closes down the house's upper level. Except for
a brief glimpse of her through the window, nothing is heard from her until her death at the age of
seventy-four. Only the servant is observed entering and exiting the residence.
The narrator tells what happened after Emily dies in the last section. Emily's body is put out in the
parlor, and the funeral is attended by the women, town elders, and two cousins. The townsfolk break
down the door of a locked upper room that had not been opened in forty years after some time has
passed. The chamber seems frozen in time, with bridal attire and a man's suit on display. Homer
Barron's body is also spread out on the bed, in an advanced condition of decomposition. Onlookers
then see a head depression in the pillow next Homer's body, as well as a long strand of Emily's gray
hair on the pillow.

C. Literary Criticism
1. Marxist Approach
- That is because the Grierson family is thinking high of themselves because they think they are
supreme to the whole town just because they are rich and the townsfolk sees them as heroes.She
is the daughter of a rich man that was known as a hero in the town.

“ Miss Emily's father had loaned money to the town, which the town, as a matter of business,
preferred this way of repaying.”(The mayor who passed away, did not make Miss Emily pay taxes)

2. Feminist Approach
-Emily had a feminist struggle when, “Her father denied any request for young men to spend
time with Emily.” Emily was kept on lockdown and wasn’t allowed to date or even go outside her
home. The statements made in this story suggest that women are inferior in its timeline.

3. Historical Approach
-In connection to the feminist approach, Faulkner explains the roles of women in the South and
how they were seen through the perspective of men. “When Miss Emily Greisen died, our whole
town went to her funeral: Men through a sort of respectful affection for a fallen monument, the
women mostly out of curiosity to see the inside of her house”. This quote is one of many passages
that show that Mr. Faulkner is attempting to make men the superior gender. The men went to see
the hero they thought Emily was, and the women went to see the house. Which shows how they
were only interested in being housewives which was how the old times put women into place.