A Rose For Emily

The narrator of William Faulkner’s story A Rose For Emily is not officially mentioned. However, there are hints throughout the story as to who the narrator is. The narrator appears to be a third party observer in the town. The narrator influences the story’s development by telling us what happened in the past and present, changing the tone to be sometimes positive and sometimes negative. Once Miss Emily dies and is put to rest, the townspeople enter her home and find her husband’s, Homer, dead body in her bed. It was obvious by the indent in her pillow with her hair on it that she had been sleeping next to her dead husband for years. It is apparent in the text stating, “Of course a Grierson would not think seriously of a Northerner, a day laborer” (Faulkner), that she did this to Homer because she was ashamed of herself for loving him and knew their relationship would not be accepted because of her high social status and his low social status. So she killed him and kept his body so she could keep the relationship alive for herself in private.