A Rose for Emily

     William Faulkner molds "A Rose for Emily" into a Southern Gothic piece of work as he slowly reveals and describes the gruesome character of Emily herself. Emily is very mysterious, which is cleverly exhibited through the eyes of the narrator. The narrator and the rest of the town are always watching Emily and her home to try and figure out just what exactly goes on inside of there. All they ever really know is what they observe and assume to be true. Emily house reeks of some unknown smell that is speculated to be the smell of some rotting, dead animal carcass, but yet again, no one knows for sure. Upon finally learning just how Emily murdered her lover and then kept his body on her bed so she could still lie with him after death, is like a slap in the face from the hand of grotesqueness itself. Yet there is still this heir of mystery about her, even after her death. The entire town thought that she had "evidently" shut off the entire second floor of her home; but after her funeral, they find the skeleton and they "...noticed that in the second pillow was the indentation of a head. One of us lifted something from it, and leaving forward, that faint and invisible dust dry and acrid in the nostrils, we saw a long strand of iron-grey hair. (p. 5). Even the mere fact that they waited until "...Miss Emily was decent in the ground before they..." broke into her private room implies that they still felt a bit of fear and uneasiness towards her (p. 5).
     Faulkner is clearly making Emily symbolic to the traditional way of life in the story. In the beginning he even refers to Emily and her home as a "fallen monument" (p. 1). Emily doesn't believe that she has to pay any taxes because of a deal that she and Colonel Sartoris made years ago. The new men that have been running the town since Colonel Sartoris's death ten years previously have many troubles and stand offs with Miss Emily when trying to get her to pay her taxes. Because she is somewhat of a "monument" in the town, the men finally let it go. This bit of bowing down to the historical and traditional character could be viewed as a sign of respect, but I think it was more out of fear and utter exasperation. One thing is certain though, Miss Emily was tough and didn't back down from anyone--man or woman.
     There are a few instances where racial and gender issues are illuminated by Faulkner. He constantly tells how the Negro man "...going in and out with the market basket" (p. 5). No matter how terrible and frightening Miss Emily was, that house servant never stopped working for her and being faithful to her. The men of the town don't show him any respect and refer to him as "...that nigger of hers" (p. 2). However, this black man is clearly putting up with a lot more than any of them ever have from Miss Emily, so he seems to be much more diligent and brave than they are. The women in the town even go as far as to blame the stench coming from the house on him when they say "...just as if a man-any man-could keep a kitchen properly" (p. 2). Here, the women are not referring to his race at all, but merely that any man would not be capable of maintaining a clean kitchen and home like a woman could.