Summary of A Rose for Emily 
Reaction Paper
Michelle D. Mix
ENG/125
July 23, 2013
Patrick Points
Reaction Paper- A Rose for Emily
William Faulkner wrote the short story “A Rose for Emily”, set shortly after the Civil War. I believe that Faulkner wrote this story about a woman who wanted to have a family and a normal life. Emily does find a man that she believes that could give her the life that she has been longing for but then finds out that he does not truly want her, which in the end she murders. Faulkner wrote this story by drawing a picture of the life of a girl who was bound inside her house because of her father, and thought she could find a normal life after he died.
This story actually starts at the end with her death. After talking about her funeral, Faulkner writes about her life and how she ends as the woman that she becomes. The people of the town are talking of her death. “When Miss Emily Grierson died, our whole town went to her funeral: the men through a sort of respectful affection for a fallen monument, the women mostly out of curiosity to see the inside of her house, which no one save an old Negro manservant-a combined gardener and cook-had seen in at least ten years”(Pearson, 2014). I do find it interesting when a writer chooses to start a story with the end of the story. This worked well because it kept my interest to see how her death became the end. The people in the town found a great interest in Emily Grierson, at the beginning. As you read on you learn of Miss Emily’s life and how she grew up and her father who wanted her to stay home. Things turn out differently for Emily after her father died, and not what she had anticipated. I think the theme in this story is three-fold, one is that people think that life will work the way they intend or plan, but it rarely does and we have to deal with which path our lives take. Emily got her heart broke and she ends up poisoning the man that she thought would make her life plans a reality. Poisoning him was her way to
Michelle D. Mix
ENG/125
July 23, 2013
Patrick Points
Reaction Paper- A Rose for Emily
William Faulkner wrote the short story “A Rose for Emily”, set shortly after the Civil War. I believe that Faulkner wrote this story about a woman who wanted to have a family and a normal life. Emily does find a man that she believes that could give her the life that she has been longing for but then finds out that he does not truly want her, which in the end she murders. Faulkner wrote this story by drawing a picture of the life of a girl who was bound inside her house because of her father, and thought she could find a normal life after he died.
This story actually starts at the end with her death. After talking about her funeral, Faulkner writes about her life and how she ends as the woman that she becomes. The people of the town are talking of her death. “When Miss Emily Grierson died, our whole town went to her funeral: the men through a sort of respectful affection for a fallen monument, the women mostly out of curiosity to see the inside of her house, which no one save an old Negro manservant-a combined gardener and cook-had seen in at least ten years”(Pearson, 2014). I do find it interesting when a writer chooses to start a story with the end of the story. This worked well because it kept my interest to see how her death became the end. The people in the town found a great interest in Emily Grierson, at the beginning. As you read on you learn of Miss Emily’s life and how she grew up and her father who wanted her to stay home. Things turn out differently for Emily after her father died, and not what she had anticipated. I think the theme in this story is three-fold, one is that people think that life will work the way they intend or plan, but it rarely does and we have to deal with which path our lives take. Emily got her heart broke and she ends up poisoning the man that she thought would make her life plans a reality. Poisoning him was her way to