A rose for emily - obstinance and an outside perspective
...ept change. The main character, Emily Grierson, is locked living in her own world incapable of change. By telling the story from the point of view of the towns people Faulkner can present us with frequent images of the town changing around Emily. There are several references to the new generations of people taking over various positions in the society. “When the next generation, with its more modern ideas, became mayors and aldermen, this arrangement [Emily not paying taxes] created some little dissatisfaction”(4). “Then the newer generation became the backbone and the spirit of the town.”(50). These references are there as reminders to the reader that the town and its citizens are changing and evolving, and are to be contrasted with Emily’s desperate attempts to escape change. Since we only know what the town’s people know, when they know it, it is clear that this town does not revolve around Ms. Emily Grierson. She is merely a frequent topic of gossip. As the town transforms, people’s interest in her comes and goes and people’s opinion of her changes. “So the next day we all said, ‘she will kill herself’; and we said it would be the best thing. When she had first begun to be seen with Homer Baron, we had said, ‘She will marry him.’ Then we said, ‘She will persuade him yet…’”(43). The town’s people are not genuinely concerned with Emily’s well being. Emily is a part of the town’s history and only an interesting subject for discussion. If Emily had been the narrator of the story she would be the center of the story and we would be unaware of the changing of the town both physically and in its attitude. If Emily had been chosen to tell the story from her w...