In William Faulkner’s “A Rose For Emily,” Faulkner’s details about setting and atmosphere help the reader understand the actions and reactions of Miss Emily. Throughout the story, Faulkner gives hints that eventually lead up to the shocking revelation of Emily’s character. At first glance, Emily seems like a lonely woman with little self-confidence and low self-esteem. Faulkner portrays her and her family with high statuses and while she did carry herself with dignity, people in the community only gave her respect based on fear of what she could do to them. It wasn’t until her death when her true character was revealed when the skeleton of her lover, Homer Baron, is discovered in a room in her house. Not only did Emily poison him, but a gray hair was found next to his skeleton, indicating that she had been sleeping with a corpse for years. It all just goes to show that some people aren’t what they seem.
With the fear of losing Homer and being left alone, she decided to poison him. She went to the drug store to purchase arsenic. The druggist repeatedly asked what she had wanted it for as he was unable to sell poison without knowing the reason for the purchase. He never got an answer and possibly just gave Emily the poison out of fear and respect. Emily put it to use right away. She felt that if she could not have Homer while he was alive, she could be with him and keep forever if he were dead, in which she did. Because of her isolation in her house, none of the townspeople were aware of how sick she had become. Not until after her death did the truth about Homer emerge.
Needless to say, Emily had a hard life. Everybody who she had ever come to love had left her. Not only that, but between her father, her manservant, and Homer, she had become totally dependent on men to do things for her. She had always had men to protect and defend her; per
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