A Rose for Emily

In the story, "A Rose for Emily," the question of Homer Baron being gay, and Emily being African American is impossible. Homer states that he is not the marrying kind, but this does not mean that he is gay; it probably means that he moves around a lot with his work and enjoys the company of many women, not just one. Emily is not African American because she is given privileges not given to African American women of her era. She lives on a street that was once grand or the most select street. She has the patterns of behavior of white families that once may have been well off, but may have fallen on hard times. Emily has lost her father, her first source of support, and her only suitor. The fact that Emily lost the young man she thought to marry explains why she poisoned Homer - she was not going to go through the embarrassment of losing another "husband." By keeping him in the bedroom upstairs she, in her mind, feels she is properly wed, and he will never leave her. The gray hair on the pillow shows she spent time with him for quite awhile after he passed away. The narrator is someone who knows the whole history of the town and seems impartial to it. It could even be the negro who works for her...