A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner Book Review

As quoted by Ziad Abdelnour, "There's a story behind every person. There's a reason why they're the way they are. Think about that before you judge anyone."  

Meanwhile, the townspeople within this story had no idea what was happening in the life of the very person they often judged. William Faulkner often wrote his stories in a southern gothic genre, of which A Rose for Emily is no exception; As this story takes place in the southern part of the U.S. in the late 1890ś to early 1900ś. The timeline of this story is not chronological; it both starts and ends with Emily´s death. At the beginning of the story, Emily seems like a nice, normal lady who has some family problems. However, as the story goes on, one can see that her having family problems is an understatement, as Emily has a lot more going on in her head. 

Firstly, Emilyś's character is very complex, in a way that she does not seem normal, but she also doesn't seem insane. The first piece of evidence that supports this is a quote from the townspeople, of which they state,

"She was sick for a long time. When we saw her again, her hair was cut short, making her look like a girl,...[it was]... tragic and serene." (pg. 4)

Emily disappears from the public view, only to come back, appearing to be a young, traumatized child. With how drastically she changed, it makes one wonder if she had a mental breakdown and stopped holding up the image of herself that her father morphed. 

The second piece of evidence that supports this is a quote from the townspeople, of which they state, 

"What was left of him, rotted beneath what was left of the nightshirt...Then we noticed that in the second pillow was the indentation of a head…[and] we saw a long strand of iron-gray hair." (pg. 8)

Emily had murdered Homer many years before she ended up dying. However, the more disturbing prospect is that Emily would sleep aside Homer's dead body during the years the corpse was decaying. With this, it's unknown how broken Emily indeed was, but that she was strongly disturbed and needed severe mental help.

Additionally, the setting of the story is strongly shaped by the characters of the townspeople. As the setting surrounding Emily's life is very double-sided.

The first piece of evidence that supports this is a quote from the townspeople, of which they state,

"When her father died,...the house was all that was left to her; and...people were glad...Being left alone and a pauper, she had become humanized. Now she too would know the old thrill and the old despair of a penny more or less." (pg. 4)

Emily's father left her nothing but a house, and in turn, although the townspeople felt sorry for her, they also were happy that she finally had to endure the penniless life that many of them had. This two-face view towards Emily shows that the townspeople saw her as someone who never lived through hardship until she had no money or father.

The second piece of evidence that supports this is a quote from the townspeople, of which they state,

"...Miss Emily had been a tradition, a duty, and a care; a sort of hereditary obligation upon the town…" (pg. 1)

The townspeople saw a moral and traditional obligation to care for Emily, even though they had no idea what was happening behind closed doors. This ironic statement shows that the townspeople likely resented their duty towards Emily.

Lastly, the foreshadowing within this story may seem subtle but comes as no surprise once the outcome is apparent. The townspeople especially see this at the end of the story.

The first piece of evidence that supports this is a quote from the townspeople, of which they state,

"...she had shut up the top floor of the house…" (pg. 7)

The townspeople had noticed that Emily had hidden the top part of her house from any looking eyes while she still went up there frequently. With this, they knew she was hiding something that she did not want people to know about.

The second piece of evidence that supports this is a quote from the townspeople, of which they state,

"...her great-aunt, had gone completely crazy…" (pg. 3)

The townspeople knew that Emily's family had a history of mental health issues and severe behavioral issues. All while, they did not seem to care enough for her to help her through her hardship.

To Conclude, Emily seemed like a normal lady that had family trouble. However, the further along the reader gets into the story, the more one realizes that she has a lot more going on in her head than just family issues. This is significant to one of the many themes of this story as it adds to the hypocrisy of judging others and the fact that you never honestly know someone until they are gone. Given all of this, it is apparent from the misinformation held towards Emily that everyone should try their best never to assume, judge, or gossip about someone. As all they truly are doing is making everything worse.