Review: "A Rose For Emily"

At first, I thought maybe each roman numeral indicated a new narrator. I imagined each section as being narrated by another member of the town. But it was when the narrator, in the final line of the story, used the term "iron-gray" in reference to Miss Emily's hair that I realized that the story never changed narrators. Still though, I cannot figure out who the narrator actually is. After rereading the story with the idea of there being a single narrator, I could not help but imagine the narrator as being a woman. Perhaps, someone who works at the Jefferson Historical Society (if such a thing exists), which is what I imagined the narrator as being. There are no specific lines for me to support this idea, other than the whole story itself. The way the narrator seems to know all of what happened concerning Miss Emily, her appearances, lengths of disappearances, and general opinions of townsfolk on Miss Emily, signals to me that the narrator, perhaps, must make it a point to be in-the-know. But I don't see the narrator as being a gossip.

Near paragraph twenty-five, just after the death and burial of Miss Emily's father, the narrator mentions they, as in the townspeople, "did not think she was crazy then" (36). The narrator does not say that to about Miss Emily to suggest that she was crazy, but includes it as a reassurance of the townspeople attempts to give Miss Emily the benefit of the doubt, even though they did not really believe Miss Emily was sane. They pity her. And of course, in the next section is when Miss Emily buys the poison. And the section after that is the introduction of Homer Barron.

I still do not really understand what significance Homer holds to Miss Emily. The narrator clearly states that "...Homer himself had remarked--he liked men" (38). I do not understand why she killed him. I do not understand the meaning of her hair in the bed next to his lifeless rotting body. Perhaps, it is meant to be left a mystery. The point of view of the narrator, being set in reality, yet somehow all knowing, does add to the mystery of the story. I thought. The story seems to be told from an impartial omniscience, at least, based on what I understand impartial omniscience to be. And it is due to this non-judgmental style that still think the narrator is a part of the town's historical society. I'm not sure why Faulkner would have chosen this point of view though. Perhaps, as I previously stated, it was to add to the mysterious nature and separation Miss Emily has with the town. The narrator knows everything about Miss Emily and happenings, but never know what goes on her head and, therefore, neither do we.