9/13 "A Rose for Emily"-ReneHernandez

In the short story, "A Rose for Emily" by William Faulkner, there is only one narrator and also one point of view. The new generation of the town all carry the same opinion about Emily Grierson. "When her father died, it got about that the house was all that was left to her;and in a way, people were glad. At last they could pity Miss Emily. Being left alone, and a pauper, she had become humanized"(36) The Grierson's were viewed as immortal and untouchable, but once Emily's father died they saw a real reaction from her and knew she was not as contained as they thought. The narrator seems to express much jealousy towards Emily not only from himself but also from the rest of the town. They liked to judge Emily only by the content of her image not by the knowledge gained from friendship. Emily Grierson was judged even after her death, and gossiped about all her life. She seemed to have no choice but to live in the public eye, and no matter what she did the town critiqued her. "Like when she bought the rat poison, the arsenic"(37)..."So the next day we all said, 'She will kill herself' and we said it would be the best thing"(38). The town, including the narrator himself, basically felt that Emily Grierson was crazy. They did not think that she deserved any positive attention, so they took it upon themselves to judge her based solely on what they see and not what they know.
This story is told by a man who seems to be another member of that society. He seems to know only the exterior of Emily Grierson, therefore I believe he did not know her on a personal level. It is unusual that the story of Emily Grierson is told by an ordinary civilian. This point of view does fit the theme of this story because it is coming from an ordinary outsider. He does represents the majority of the town and their feelings towards Emily and her father. They believe that the Grierson's were an unfair exception to the laws. This is what sparked the jealousy of the town members, and explains why they disliked her. " 'They're married.' We were really glad. We were glad because the two female cousins were even more Grierson than Miss Emily had ever been"(38). This town assumed they knew everything about Emily Girerson but they never bothered to get to know her.