The tone in William Faulkner's ' A Rose for Emily'

13th posting

9.05 p.m. 1st of September 2008

Even though we know that Miss. Emily is a proud woman, the tone of the narrator is very sympathetic towards her. She is pitied upon even though there is a touch of madness in her. The narrator cleverly takes the readers back and forth so that they will understand and see the character from a point of view and this is a skill that is normally very difficult to put into effect in a story that makes it a page turner.

Miss. Emily's unchangeable ways due to her aristocratic lineage made things very difficult for her without her realizing it. The tax collection part simply showed that she is very aloof and never takes the initiative to wake up and smell the coffee regarding the time change. She still sticks to what Colonel Sartoris had said during her father's time and is very adamant with the 'promise' that Colonel Sartoris made even if the 'promise' has been outdated, obsolete and with Colonel Sartoris being long dead. She is so stubborn when the drug store clerk told her that she needed to tell him what the poison she wanted is needed for, she simply stared at him as if she knows best and need not be questioned as she is one of the most important figure in the society. Her unwillingness to change was further understood from the way she keeps her house, so worn down and rickety. Not only that, due to her attitude and stubbornness, loneliness has caused her, her mental peace as she always feels insecure about her life entirely, whether when she was with her father or after her father's death.

Because of her insecurity and her aloofness and scores of other negative attitudes in her, she has chased away the very few visitors that often visited her. Here, her morality declined as she was turning into a very bitter woman.

The narrator's tone throughout the story is remarkable because he keeps us guessing on what is going to happen next. I had a tough time guessing on the outcome. I had many possibilities running through my mind but nothing seem prepared me for what I was about to find out. The narrator keeps his distance but is never precisely identified. There is an internal conflict which the narrator wants to convey. What a fantastic way to keep the readers glued to the story!

Stay tuned because there is more to be found out.