A Rose for Emily- William Faulkner - Essay Example

Perspective in a Rose for Emily The point of view in William Faulkner in "A Rose for Emily is effective because it a way to depict gossip. His storyis uniquely told from perspective of generic townspeople with no sense of authority or responsibility of information. Yet, the reader is inclined to accept this information as fact revealing Emily as a strange and eccentric character, who was thought to come from old money and was a recluse who never married. She was rumored to have purchased bought arsenic which raised suspicion especially as her only known acquaintance was male maid.

The town people felt sorry for her and left her alone other than their speculations about her which could not be confirmed until they entered her house after her death. After her funeral, they went to inspect the upstairs of her house and found the male maid there, but he was dead in bed and he had piece of her hair on a pillow found beside him. They were both shocked and amazed that she was an eccentric as they had believed adding validity to the gossip. The fast paced story telling emphasizes the gossipy and uncertain nature if her life’s story.

When Emily was alive, it was almost a past time of the town as a topic of gossip and speculation, but after her death she became almost a famous legend of the town and the story would continue to be told now as truth rather than gossip. The story ends with the town unsure of what to do or believe ending almost as mysteriously as it began. This perspective epitomizes the sense of small town gossip giving a feel for the town she lived in with the ironic twist that these busybodies were right about her the entire time and yet she was able to commit the perfect murder right under their watch.

Works Cited Booth, Alison, J. Paul, and Kelly J. The Norton Introduction to Literature. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2007. Print.