A Rose for Emily - Biography William Faulkner
BIOGRAPHY William Faulkner (September 25, 1897 – July 6, 1962) was a Nobel Prize-winning American author. One of the most influential writers of the 20th century, his reputation is based on his novels, novellas and short stories. However, he was also a published poet and an occasional screenwriter. Most of Faulkner's works are set in his native state of Mississippi, and he is considered one of the most important Southern writers, along with Mark Twain, Robert Penn Warren, Flannery O'Connor, Truman Capote, Eudora Welty, and Tennessee Williams. While his work was published regularly starting in the mid 1920s, Faulkner was relatively unknown before receiving the 1949 Nobel Prize in Literature. He is now deemed among the greatest American writers of all time.[1]
PLOT SUMMARY “A Rose for Emily” is divided into five sections. The first section opens with a description of the Grierson house in Jefferson. The narrator mentions that over the past 25 years, Miss Emily Grierson’s home has fallen into disrepair and become “an eyesore among eyesores.” The first sentence of the story sets the tone of how the citizens of Jefferson felt about Emily: “When Miss Emily Grierson died, our whole town went to the 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 manservant–a combined gardener and cook–had seen in at least ten years.” It is known around town that Emily Grierson has not had guests in her home for the past decade, except her Negro servant who runs errands for her to and from the market. Her father arranges in his will that she would never have to pay taxes; when a new city council takes over, however, they begin to tax her once again. She refuses to pay the taxes and appear before the sheriff, so the city authorities invite themselves into her house. When confronted on her tax evasion, Emily reminds them that she doesn't have to pay
PLOT SUMMARY “A Rose for Emily” is divided into five sections. The first section opens with a description of the Grierson house in Jefferson. The narrator mentions that over the past 25 years, Miss Emily Grierson’s home has fallen into disrepair and become “an eyesore among eyesores.” The first sentence of the story sets the tone of how the citizens of Jefferson felt about Emily: “When Miss Emily Grierson died, our whole town went to the 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 manservant–a combined gardener and cook–had seen in at least ten years.” It is known around town that Emily Grierson has not had guests in her home for the past decade, except her Negro servant who runs errands for her to and from the market. Her father arranges in his will that she would never have to pay taxes; when a new city council takes over, however, they begin to tax her once again. She refuses to pay the taxes and appear before the sheriff, so the city authorities invite themselves into her house. When confronted on her tax evasion, Emily reminds them that she doesn't have to pay