Essay About a Rose for Emily by William Faulkner

The story “A Rose for Emily,” by William Faulkner, is a story that revolves around the main character, Emily, life after she has passed away. Can the story “A Rose for Emily” truly be considered a detective story? Many consider this story a detective story because of the many deaths throughout the story. Nasrullah Hambrol writes in the analysis of “A Rose for Emily” why Emily lived such a secluded life because of the death of her father, lover, and her sense of superiority over the community of Jefferson. Patrick Velardi writes in the article, “Plot, Character and Setting: A Study of Mystery and Detective Fiction” that a detective story needs to have a criminal investigation within the story. The story “A Rose for Emily” is not a detective story because a detective story is a story whose plot revolves around a criminal investigation, and the story does not revolve around a criminal investigation: The story revolves around Emily’s life. The story cannot be considered a detective story because the plot of the story revolves around Emily’s secluded life and her odd ways of living life, and while the story does have two deaths in it, no investigation that follows the deaths.  

The plot of the story does not revolve around a criminal investigation; the plot revolves around Emily’s secluded life. In the story, Emily lives an exceptionally secluded life from the community of Jefferson, and she has old-fashioned views on life itself. Emily does not go out into the community much, and one of the only people that see her regularly is her servant, who mysteriously disappears towards the end of the story. Emily carried on with her pre-civil war beliefs and ideas after the war had ended up until her death. The community of Jefferson changing their ideas and beliefs after the civil war had ended, everyone's new ideas and beliefs drew Emily further away from the community. In the article, Analysis of William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily,” by Nasrullah Hambrol, the author of the article explains why Emily lived a secluded life and had an old way of living life. Nasrullah Hambrol states that the reasoning for Emily’s seclusion from the community of Jefferson is because of the death of her father, the death of her lover, and that she feels entitled over the other townspeople. After the death of her father, Emily secludes herself from the community of Jefferson, and after the death of her lover, she secludes herself even more, barely going out into the public, and after the end of the civil war and the community of Jefferson is changing their ways of life, the community of Jefferson never sees Emily.  

For the story “A Rose for Emily” to be considered a detective story, the plot of the story must revolve around a criminal investigation, and “A Rose for Emily” does not. “A Rose for Emily” has a plot that revolves around the life of the main character, Emily. While there are many deaths throughout the story, Emily’s father passed away, Emily’s lover passed away, and towards the end of the story, Emily passed away, there is no investigation that follows after the deaths of those characters in the story. One could say that after Emily passes away, the community investigates Emilys strange and peculiar life, and that makes the story a detective story because the community is trying to figure out information about her life, but for the story to be a detective story, there must be a criminal investigation. Stated in the article from Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute, “Plot, Character and Setting: A Study of Mystery and Detective Fiction,” the author of the article, Patrick A. Velardi, states that a typical detective story needs a criminal investigation, and the story “A Rose for Emily.”

All things considered, it can be said that the story “A Rose for Emily” cannot be considered a detective story. For the story to be considered a detective story, the plot of the story must revolve around a criminal investigation, and the story does not; the story revolves around the secluded life and the old ways of life that Emily lived. While one could say that the story is a detective story because of the deaths throughout, Emily’s father, Emily’s lover, and Emily, the story, but there is no investigation that follows after the three deaths.