Townspeople Support in a Rose for Emily Essay

Introduction

A Rose for Emily written by William Faulkner is a short narrative that echoes the spirit of the era when it was transcribed. It narrates a story of a woman known as Miss Emily Grierson a resident of Jefferson City although fictional, situated in Mississippi (Faulkner, 1930). The special and temporal setting of the story demonstrates its plot in two different dimensions which include the modern and the ancient era. One of the major characters, Miss Emily, existed between the two dimensions (Werlock, 2013). Although she was an outcast to Jefferson's community, she underwent various suffering and experiences which necessitated support from townspeople. Therefore, the townspeople greatly assisted Miss Emily in throughout her entire life when she was required to pay taxes, when the smelt a bad odour from her house, by respecting her privacy, and when she became humanized after the death of his father.

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Exemption from Taxes

The townsmen supported Miss Emily by ensuring that she did not pay any taxes. This came years before when she declined to pay taxes. She had contended that she be given a tax exception by Colonel Sartoris who was a long-dead dignitary in Jefferson City. The refusal not to pay taxes came due to her unawareness of the life which persisted outside their home in which her father had kept her (Werlock, 2013). She did not know that the life had drastically altered over the time hence her refusal to pay the required taxes proceeded year after year. While every individual was forced to pay the required taxes, Miss Emily was not forced. This is because when representatives for tax collection who came from the town approached his home to entreat their accusation for her to pay taxes. Miss Emily humiliated them which diminished the power which made them go away. The representative left her because of respect as well as a sense of anxiety since she was adamant.

Dealing with the Odor

Additionally, the townspeople supported Miss Emily when they smelt a bad odour which came from her house. However, at this juncture, the townspeople did not know how to proceed with providing their help to Miss Emily. This is because as Faulkner (1930), states you do not just step in a woman's house and inform her face to face that she smells. By saying this, the author meant that townspeople could not walk into her house and inform her that corpse of her dead father was smelling but rather you have to search for an appropriate manner to approach a woman and inform her such news. Therefore, out of respect their had for both her and her father, they secretly met and in one night when Miss Emily was asleep, they stepped in around the house and sprinkled some limestone around the house foundation in efforts to get rid of the horrible smell which sprouted from the house. Ultimately, due to the townspeople initiative, they helped Miss Emily in ensuring the smell disappear.

Respecting Miss Emily's Privacy

Additionally, the townspeople supported her by respecting her privacy. They did not visit Miss Emily in her home nor bothered her. They perceived that this is what Miss Emily wanted to live like. Therefore, failure to visit her was seen as enabling her to live the kind of life she desired to live. However, when she died, Faulkner (1930), narrates that in her funeral; "the townspeople came from an old-fashioned sense of responsibility which had been described earlier, as well as women form the morbid curiosity to view Miss Emily house, which was a place that no individual apart from her servant named Tobe was allowed to visit for numerous years (Race and Prejudice in American Literature)." Nonetheless, the willingness to be detached and not supported by the townspeople came to be recognized during her death. This answered various questions about Miss Emily which had not been answered. Faulkner (1930), states "for those townspeople who were old enough to recall the vanishing of Homer Baron who was a dashing young individual who in many instances had been seen around the town with Miss Emily. It was only this time the townspeople saw the mummified corpse of Homer Baron and his head which had long grey hair. This revealed that Miss Emily who was perceived and supported by the townspeople as the community pillar had since the disappearance of Homer Baron, laid next to a corpse. This revelation came as a result of the townspeople support for Miss Emily as the gathered after her death to bury her.

Miss Emily's Humanization

The townspeople additionally showed Miss Emily support when she became humanized as the author states. Miss Emily was the topic of interest and gossip by Jefferson's townspeople. An outsider who was barely observed, she could not be forgotten by the townsmen who recall her past years and the smell as well as the scandalous love affair she had with Barron who had mysteriously disappeared (Faulkner, 1930). For a long time, they had viewed Miss Emily as being higher than them. They furthermore, felt sorry for her and supported her when the recall the way her father had regulated her life before his demise. The conceived and tried to help her after the demise of her father, a period when they thought she had been humanized. Although at the age of thirty years, the townspeople who some were her neighbours were not precisely satisfied but vindicated. However, they seemed supportive and happy when they say that Miss Emily had some interest in Homer (Race and Prejudice in American Literature). The townspeople appeared supportive by encouraging their relationship as they happily spread new gossip which materialized about Miss Emily late amorousness. The townspeople recognized Miss Emily privacy by not visiting her home after his relationship with Homer. This can be seen as one of the greatest support to give her time to concentrate on their relationship.

Conclusion

From A Rose for Emily, it is clear that Miss Emily has lived a miserable life not only on the hands of her father but also in the hands of the community after his fathers' death. However, her townspeople have shown considerable assistance in her entire life. This can be seen from various instances which happened to her. The type of support that the townsmen had offered to her regardless to how small the audience of the story may perceive it had resulted to desirable results and impact in the life of Miss Emily henceforth making it a better than it was when she was faced with the problem. Therefore, which the kind of assistance that the townspeople offer they make A Rose for Emily interesting and it would be recommended to any reader who desires to obtain maximum pleasure from reading to read it.

References

Faulkner, W. (1930). A rose for Emily. Paderborn, De: Verlag F. Schoningh.

"Race and Prejudice in American Literature." Literary Themes for Students: Race and Prejudice, edited by Anne Marie Hacht, vol. 1, Gale, 2006, pp. 3-20. Literary Themes for Students. Gale Virtual Reference Library, http://link.galegroup.com.db23.linccweb.org/apps/doc/CX2661800013/GVRL?u=lincclin_sjrcc&sid=GVRL&xid=496b2d97. Accessed 4 Aug. 2018.

Werlock, A. (2013). Encyclopedia of the American Short Story, 2-Volume Set (3rd ed.).

Maxey, R. (2015). The Rise of the "We" Narrator in Modern American Fiction. European journal of American studies, 10(10-2).