A Rose for Emily is a short story by Faulkner focusing on the life of aristocratic-like Miss Emily. The narration utilizes a first-person plural point of view, representing the town where she lived, although it immediately reveals the differences between the two parties. The author chooses to tell the story in such a way to facilitate the ideas of change and separation, where Miss Emily represents the haughty past, and other dwellers embody modernity.
From the beginning, it is made clear that Miss Emily is an anomaly, a relic. She is a “tradition,” which gradually becomes a burden to the town due to the habit of not paying taxes “without comment” (Faulkner 45). The woman believes that her father’s agreement with a previous mayor is still in place and shows no desire to accept another state of affairs after being confronted by the Board. Interestingly, it is not included in the point of view of the current mayor; perhaps, because “we” represent common citizens and not those in the position of power (Faulkner, 48). The former group is sympathetic toward Miss Emily when she is young, but eventually, the population is replenished with new blood while the woman remains the same in everything but her appearance (Faulkner 49, 51). It is evident in Miss Emily’s reluctance to relive her butler of duty, pay taxes, assign a number to her house, and admit that the days of noblesse oblige are gone. The plural point of view helps to indicate those points, understand Emily’s adherence to tradition, and even sympathize with her situation.
Miss Emily being frozen in time is also related to her isolation from other citizens. Superficially, both appear to share some values from the pre-Abolition era. Miss Emily has people in Confederate uniforms attending her funeral and a Black servant, and the townspeople’s attitude manifests in the mayor’s edict regarding Black women and the narrators’ usage of the offensive word (Faulkner 45, 51). However, what separates the two is Emily’s status as the town’s benefactor’s daughter and her demand for “recognition of her dignity” (Faulkner 51). While Jefferson is not hostile toward the heiress, the point of view indicates that its common citizens do not associate themselves with her, especially while gossiping about Miss Emily’s relationships with Homer (Faulkner 53). She may be a widely discussed curiosity, but not one of them. Thus, the author’s use of the first-person plural alienates Miss Emily from the community and underlines her secluded lifestyle despite them sharing certain values.
Usually, the mode of narration depends on the most convenient way to tell a story. A Rose for Emily could be written in the third person, but some nuance would be lost. The first-person plural strengthens the themes of change (the reluctance to accept it) and separation in the sense of being isolated from people of the same race. It occurs by highlighting subtle and obvious differences between Miss Emily and the town and the altered attitude toward the former.
Reference
Faulkner, William. Selected Short Stories of William Faulkner. Random House, 1993.