A Looming Grief: Parallels between the life of William Faulkner’s and Miss Emily
“Now she too would know the old thrill and the old despair of a penny more or less,” (Faulkner, 2). This quote exemplifies how an author can use a quote that suggests a previous, personal experience with financial instability. It also gives insight into the author’s personal morale and therefore can open doors to their emotions during their life experiences. In A Rose for Emily, a short story by William Faulkner, an unknown narrator recounts the life of the enigmatic Emily Grierson leading up to her death in the fictional town of Jefferson, Mississippi. William Faulkner uses specific literary tactics regarding person usage as well as morally colored quotes to portray…show more content… The narrator is believed to be someone who cared for and respected Emily, as evidenced by her being mentioned as Miss Emily throughout the story. However, in most instances, the narrator interestingly would refer to his/herself in plural first person when describing how the town thought of Miss Emily. This shows that although the narrator respected her, he did not understand Miss Emily as she was just as much a mystery to him/her as to the rest of the town. “Already we knew there was one room in that region above stairs which no one had seen in forty years, and which would have to be forced. They waited until Miss Emily was decently in the ground before they opened it,” (Faulkner, 5). This quote perfectly describes the argument at hand due to the fact that there is a deliberate change in person in the second sentence to convey conviction. Up until the second sentence, Faulkner includes himself with the town, as he too had not seen the upstairs room. However, when it came time for the authorities to inspect the house, something Miss Emily likely would not have approved of, Faulkner now excludes himself, putting the townspeople of Jefferson in third person. Faulkner, being a man who highly valued his own privacy, likely sympathized with Miss Emily and would be vehemently opposed to such an action of entering her room after her death (Towner,…show more content… Homer was from the north. He was described as a large man with a dark complexion, a booming voice, and light-colored eyes. A gruff and demanding boss, he won many admirers in Jefferson because of his gregarious nature and good sense of humor. It was mentioned in the short story that the people of Jefferson had thought of Miss Emily’s being with Homer Barron as ignoble of her status to marry or even be courted by a northern laborer. “At first we were glad that Miss Emily would have an interest, because the ladies all said, “‘Of course a Grierson would not think seriously of a Northerner, a day laborer.’ But there were still others, older people, who said that even grief could not cause a real lady to forget noblesse oblige without calling it noblesse oblige,” (Faulkner, 3). Nevertheless, she was courted and they had a seemingly normal relationship. This parallels exceptionally well with Faulkner’s experience with his love interest, Estelle Oldham. Faulkner developed a love for Oldham through their mutual love of poetry. He would write poems for her and bring stories for her to read. However, due to her social status being particularly higher than Faulkner, her parents would instead persuade her to marry Cornell Franklin, a prominent local mayor. Faulkner’s experience of rejection due to social status is