"Rose for Emily"

It took me awhile to put into order the events of Emily's life. I think they went like this: her father's death, remittance of her taxes-"the dispensation dating from the death of her father" (206), Homer arriving into town-"and in the summer of her father's death they began work" (209), the cousins come to visit-"and while the two female cousing were visiting her" (209), she purchases arsenic, Homer disappears-"we were not surprised when Homer Baron...was gone" (210), people complain of the odor around Emily's house, and the aldermen visit her.

At first reading of this story I seemed to have the events of Emily's life a little mixed up. I thought that she had murdered Homer because a man she was previously going to marry had left her and now she didn't want to lose him too. However, after reading again, knowing the story, and then trying to put everything together, I realized he was the man who had left her. Then, I had to look for a different motive for killing Homer. I came to the conclusion their family thought very highly of themselves and wanted to hold onto the Old South's ways. Her father kept her very alone, thinking that no man was good enough for Emily(208). The narrator remembering "all the young men her father had driven away, and we knew that with nothing left, she would have to cling to that which robbed her, as people will." (208) I think Emily realized that when the construction job was done, Homer would be leaving her and she didn't want to feel alone again. Therefore, she found a way to remain with him.