“A Rose For Emily,” by William Faulkner, is a story about a woman who has died, named Miss Emily Grierson. Though she is the main character, one of the important aspects of the story is the way in which it is told. The Narrator of the story is one of the townspeople. The townspeople have watched Emily as she has gone throughout her life. They remember her childhood and wealth, and her old age and decay. The Narrator was there among them because he constantly says “we” about the town. He stood by while most of Emily’s life was passing by, but, looking back on what has already passed, he chooses to tell this story to show that Emily needed a rose just as much as anyone else.

There seems to be two sides among the townspeople about how to deal with Emily. These sides are between the old and the new. They could also be called those who lived before her father died and those who died after. In the past she was given certain privileges that she alone possessed. One that we know about is her being exempt from taxes. The new generation wants her to pay, but she will not. She leans on the fact that she did not have to do it in the past and therefore she has no reason to do it now. Another privilege is the manner in which she is spoken to. This comes into play when the Narrator introduces the incident of her house becoming smelly. The only person that suggests that they should tell her something about it is the younger person of the group. The Narrator is very good at showing both of these discussions and making sure that it is known that at least one of the members is young.

It can be assumed that the Narrator is of the old generation because he has been there since the beginning of Emily’s life, but he never seems to choose a side. The Narrator “plays no active role,” and the thoughts that are shown are directly from the townspeople’s words and actions. In the beginning of the story he says that “the men went to the house out of respect and the women went out of curiosity.” Later he says that “we just stood there” as they saw the body of Homer Barron lying in the upper room of Emily’s house, but while the door is being opened he says “they waited until after her decent to open it.” The Narrator was there but he removes himself, and seems to do so every time there is an intrusion upon Emily. He “never insists on his individual judgments” (Brooks 158), but tells what the majority of the people have to say about Emily.

The time frame is not very important to him. There are many places where he says about this many days or about this many months. He could have just as easily have said how many and it would not have matter. He writes this way to show that he has a message to tell more than just a history of Emily. The story in itself is not in chronological order. He begins and ends with Emily’s death. Then he goes from her being old to her being young and then to her being old again. This is done because the Narrator it trying to show Emily as a person, not an idol as she was seen by the town. The town is unable to think of Emily as a human being with needs. They raised her up as if she is better than them. Her past would prove that she was grander than them and that she was well protected by her father, but after his death she “cut her hair and looked like a little girl”.

She was a new person and could have been taught how to live a different life, but they secluded her when she met Homer. The Narrator then says “At first “we” were glad… but then “they” said “Poor Emily.”” The townspeople were sorry, but the Narrator does not say that he was anywhere past being happy for her. He sees all that she has gone though and is glad that she has found some joy, but the townspeople believe that she should do better that a Yankee. He say “ she carried her head high-even when “we” believed she had fallen”. He has already said that he was happy, but here he says that even though he believes she has fallen that does not matter as much as her finding happiness; even if she had found love in a Yankee.

The tone of the story is very sympathetic. He says that, “she was left alone… she had become humanized”. She finally had something that had happened to her that could relate to everyone else around her; now “she too would know the old thrill and despair of a penny more or less”. To the Narrator she has been brought down to the rest of the townspeople’s level. He then says that when she returned she looked like an angel, but “sort of tragic and serene”. He is saying that she looked beautiful, but there was still something wrong. She may have acted like she was ready to move on, but he seems to say that this is not the case. He compares her to looking like an angel on a window and unless someone breaks it, it will not change. All of these things come up to the surprising ending. The important thing to notice is that she is believed to have murder Homer, but the Narrator does not say it. The only clue he gives to believe that she did it is the word “rat” that it written on the arsenic. Rat is a slang word for someone who had cheated on his or her lover (Burduck). He choose to included this because in the end he does not want the reader to believe that Emily was a murderer, but that she had reason for what she had done.

There were many in the town who believed that Emily was crazy, but the Narrator does not seem to go along with this. He believed that she was, but that she had reason to be that way. She was just as human as anyone else and she could have used someone being there for her instead of always watching her. The town, including the Narrator, stood by and watched her die and it was not until after her death that the Narrator comes to his senses and decided to tell of what has happened. His conclusion is that it is impossible for someone to be any better than anyone else and regardless of how good someone is they are still human. We may cast someone to the side and set them apart, but they are still one of us. The rose that Emily needed was always there for her to look at, but she could never smell it, or touch it, or get any kind of joy out of it; every time she would reach out one of the roses’ thorns would pierce her hand.