In the short story “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner the main character Emily Grierson is depicted as a person of southern tradition. Throughout the story the life and mental state of Miss Emily is shown through gruesome and ironic events. Her lover a Yankee, Homer Barron is a dividing figure in the social class structure of the south. In “A Rose for Emily” William Faulkner displays the south and its unwillingness to change.
Throughout “A Rose for Emily” there are many ironic events that help develop the character of Miss Emily. For many years Miss Emily’s family held themselves to a high standard her father especially; He never thought of anyone as good enough for his daughter. Ironically after her father’s death Miss …show more content…
Before her death at age seventy four Miss Emily had finally seemed to find hope and companion again. Homer Barron a Northerner had been out with Miss Emily on several Sunday afternoons. The towns people were happy that Miss Emily might have finally found someone but in the same breath thought that she again thought to highly of herself parading around in her yellow buggy on Sunday afternoons. It wasn’t Until after Homer returned back in town after being gone for three days that the gruesome events finally took place. While away Miss Emily purchased a silver toilet with the H.B engraved on it along as an outfit that included a nightshirt that had the same initials. Miss Emily also purchased arsenic from the town druggist who she never told what it was for; when delivered to her home the druggist wrote for rats on the box which wasn’t its true purpose. Miss Emily used the arsenic to poison her lover Homer Barron who she then slept with until the day that she died. By killing Homer Miss Emily would have him forever which is another clear example of the refusal to …show more content…
A southern bell would marry a southern gentleman. Miss Emily and Homer Barron broke the means of that structure when they began a relationship. Miss Emily was a traditional Southern archetype. She came from a good wealthy family who left everything to her after they were all dead. While Miss Emily was traditional Homer Barron was not. He did not fit into the social structure of the south because he was from the northern and a day laborer. It was uncommon in the south for the wealthy and lower class to interact but Homer was the exception because of Miss Emily. While many pitied her for association with Homer many found it to be a good thing that had finally found someone it still doesn’t defer from the fact that Homer did not fit into the social structure of the south at the time. He was a worker fraternizing with the wealthy which was uncommon in the south at the time. The division in class structures, the reluctance to accept some of lower class status is another example of the refusal of change that occurred in the