"A Rose for Emily" by William Faulkner

The short story "A Rose for Emily," authored by William Faulkner, takes an interesting turn when a decomposed body was discovered in the house of the main character Emily. The man is presumed to be Homer Baron, a homosexual man who had previously been a possible husband for her, and this brings up the idea that Emily killed him. However, her reason for this never stated. It is likely though that Emily was motivated by her fear of change and her desire to preserve the past. Past events including Emily’s refusal to accept her father’s death and her refusal to both pay taxes and get a house number support this fear. By murdering Homer Baron, Emily ensured that he would never leave her, which because of his homosexuality he was considering. Emily even continued to live as though Homer was her husband, treating the corpse as though he was simple sleeping. The first person plural narrator mentions, “Then we noticed that in the second pillow was the indentation of a head,” (Faulkner, 289). Emily’s total detachment from the present day is reflected through these details. Terrified of being abandoned, she did everything in her power to avoid losing what she knew. Unfortunately, this included Homer Baron.