One of the most important and successful techniques Faulkner uses here is the physical descriptions of Miss Emily throughout the short story. As her mental state further and further disintegrates, her appearance becomes less and less akin to the petite put together woman the reader meets at the linear beginning of the story. Soon after her father dies she is described as being “sick for a long time. When we saw her again, her hair was cut short, making her look like a girl, with a vague resemblance to those angels in colored church windows—sort of tragic and serene” ( 31). This portrayal directly precedes Homer�

As well as showing different opinions and characteristics of Emily through these continual descriptions of her, Faulkner reveals her character by presenting other people’s views of her. The main people he uses besides the community at large is the negro servant and the aldermen (tax collectors). Although they do not make any direct observations, Faulkner has the narrator view them interacting or often, not interacting with Emily. For example the narrator illustrates the negro’s loyalty to Miss Emily in several ways. Everyday although he gets very old and tired he treks to the post office because she refuses to have a metal mail box installed at her door for mail to be delivered free. He also stays with her until the very end when she dies.

It is this possibility that her father was right all along that truly drives her to kill Homer. When she senses that he is going to leave her, her pride and fear win out over her dignity. This loss of dignity is what causes her to hole up in her house until the day she dies with Homer’s decayed body in her bed. She is clinging to him not because of regret or remorse but because of despair. She has nothing and no one else to hold.

This is after Homer’s disappearance. In this scene she appears delusional because she is asking the aldermen to ask Colonel Sartoris about her tax exemption he supposedly set up for her before his death over ten years ago. It is not until after Homer’s appearance and disappearance that she acts delusional. Although there were many oddities about her such as shutting herself up in her house after her father’s death and admittedly having trouble connecting with reality, there is no evidence that she believed things in stark contrast with reality before Homer. Her belief that Colonel Sartoris is still alive is only displayed after Homer appeared and disappeared.

We see her interact with the aldermen in the opening section. Although she is not altogether rude to them, it might appear that way at first glance. It is because she is incredibly delusional at this point that she refuses to believe or stand for anything that they say. In effect both parties are living in two totally different worlds. When they ask if she received a l

Some topics in this essay:
Homer Homer, Emily Homer, Emily Everyday, Miss Emily, Miss Emily’s, Colonel Sartoris, Rose Emily, Sound Fury, Fury Faulkner, short story, , miss emily, sound fury, father died, colonel sartoris, beginning story, person plural, course life, opinions community, rose emily,