Faulkner’s Gay Homer, Once More, written by Judith Caesar discusses the questionable sexuality of Homer Barron in the story “A Rose for Emily”. Judith’s stance on the topic is that Homer is not a homosexual man, but is a heterosexual man. She discusses how the times changing affect the meaning of the words “gay” within the text and how it causes the confusion for the reader. At the end of the article, she backs her thesis up with strong facts. Judith explains that it may be possible that Homer could be gay, but to make that assumption ruins the story and meaning of the story.
Judith makes three very strong points within “A Rose for Emily” to prove that Homer is not gay. For her first argument, she brought up the time period in which the literature was written and when the story took place. “A Rose for Emily” was written in 1931 which lets us know the general position and opinion on being a homosexual was. The story is set in the 19th century when homosexuality was unheard of. Comparing that time period to today’s times , it helps the reader decipher that Homer could not be gay purely on the time period that this story took place.
Caesar’s second argument is based on the purpose of the story. If Homer were gay, the plot line of the story would not have made any sense. Homer was seen as Emily’s “lover”. The people in the story talk about Homer being seen going in and out of Emily 's house which suggests that they were romantically or even sexually involved. Caesar then pointed out that the people in the town viewed Emily as a “fallen woman” meaning that she was having intercourse before being married. An argument is that Homer used Emily to mask that he is gay, but if Homer had used Emily as a cover for his homosexuality, the why he would come back to her after finishing the concrete sidewalks. I feel as if he was just using her, Homer would have no need for her after finishing the job in the town.
Judith 's final
Cited: • Faulkner 's Gay Homer, Once More. By: Caesar, Judith. Explicator, Jul-Sep2010, Vol. 68 Issue 3, p195-198, 4p; (AN 52339681)