Question

How does Emily's Southern heritage contribute to the story?

A rose for Emily

Answer 1

The entire plot creates suspense of Emily's character. It makes the reader want to know who she is and what has made her the isolated person she has become. The reader gets the sense that she not all there mentally. However Faulkner throws in a fantastic twist at the end when the reader realizes just how crazy Emily is and that she isn't simply old, but actually insane.

The story is narrated by a person living in a southern town. The significance of the southern setting is to demonstrate how judgmental and petty the people of the town are. The narrator makes callous remarks about Emily and you get the sense from the tone that the town people are not all that kind. it is especially evident when we learn that they were awaiting her death so they could get inside her house. The people of the town (esp. narrator) come off as nosy, racist, and condescending.

The setting and story work together very nicely. The people of the town and their personalities make the reader feel a bit of sympathy for Emily, who simply wants privacy for some reason. But then at the end with the discovery that she actually is insane the reader feels a bit awkward and surprised, because the rude town folk were right about her.