In A Rose For Emily, William Faulkner uses exposition to introduce the reader to the story’s main characters and setting. The exposition establishes the tone for the rest of the story, which is dark and mysterious. Faulkner also uses exposition to provide backstory for the main character, Emily Grierson. We learn that she was once a beautiful and popular young woman, but that her life has taken a turn for the worse in recent years. The exposition ends with Emily’s death, which sets up the story’s conflict.
The opening scene of A Rose For Emily introduces us to Miss Emily Grierson, a woman who is living in isolation from the rest of the town. We learn that she is 67 years old and has been unmarried for her entire life. Emily’s father was a prominent man in the town, but he died many years ago. Since then, Emily has been living in the Grierson family home with her father’s sister, Miss Augusta.
The townspeople have always been suspicious of Emily, and they gossip about her strange behavior. We learn that she has not left her home in many years, and that she is often seen walking around the house with a gun. The townspeople are also disturbed by the fact that Emily has not been buried next to her father, as is tradition in the town.
The story’s conflict begins when Miss Emily dies and is found in her bed, surrounded by rats. The townspeople are curious to know what happened in the months leading up to her death, and they demand to see her bedroom. They are shocked by the sight of the room, which is piled high with junk. It is clear that Emily had been living in complete isolation for many years.
The exposition in A Rose For Emily provides important backstory for the main character and sets the tone for the rest of the story. Faulkner’s use of exposition helps to create a sense of mystery and suspense, which keeps the reader engaged until the end.
In William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily,” there are several aspects of the plot that may be investigated. The story’s conflict, foreshadowing, and flashbacks help to construct the plot, as well as its characters. The various phases of the plot can be seen throughout the narrative. A protagonist and several antagonists are included in this tale. This drama is based on a southern woman’s life and her probable one-and-only relationship with a guy.
The exposition of a story is the introduction. It is where the background information is given and the main characters are introduced. In “A Rose for Emily”, the exposition starts with the townspeople talking about Miss Emily Grierson. They talk about how she has been living in her family home for years after her father died. She never leaves the house and no one ever sees her. The townspeople have a lot of theories about what Miss Emily is doing inside.
A few weeks later, a man from Jefferson comes to town and tells everyone that he had been dating Miss Emily. He was the first man to ever date her. A short time after that, Miss Emily dies. The townspeople go to her house to investigate and they find that she had been dead for a long time. The exposition ends with the townspeople discussing what they believe happened to Miss Emily.
The climax of a story is the turning point. It is the moment when the conflict reaches its highest point. In “A Rose for Emily”, the climax happens when the townspeople go to Miss Emily’s house after she dies. They find out that she had been dead for a long time and that she had been living in her own filth.
The resolution of a story is the conclusion. It is where the conflicts are resolved and the characters learn their lessons. In “A Rose for Emily”, the resolution happens when Miss Emily is found dead. The townspeople learn that she had been living in her own filth and that she was very lonely. They also realize that they never really knew Miss Emily.
The protagonist of a story is the main character. In “A Rose for Emily”, the protagonist is Miss Emily Grierson. She is the one who the story is focused on.
The antagonists of a story are the characters who oppose the protagonist. In “A Rose for Emily”, the antagonists are the townspeople. They are the ones who gossip about Miss Emily and talk about what they believe is going on inside her house.
The narrator revisits different events in the story to introduce characters such as her father, her Negro servant, Homer Barron, and the Board of Aldermen. For example, when the narrator says, “We didn’t even know she was sick; we’d given up on getting any information from the Negro.” (86) The author employs foreshadowing examples within these flashbacks. When an author uses foreshadowing, they are attempting to offer the reader a glimpse into what is going to happen later in the tale.
An example of foreshadowing in A Rose for Emily would be when the townspeople notice that Homer Barron has been spending a lot of time at Miss Emily’s house. The townspeople say, “We knew that she had been refusing to pay her taxes… and we thought it might be because she was going to be married” (73). The use of the word “refusing” suggests that she may have been trying to hold onto something from the past.
Another example of foreshadowing would be when Miss Emily starts buying large amounts of arsenic. The narrator says, “we found out that she had been buying a great deal of arsenic at the druggist’s” (87). Arsenic is a poisonous chemical that can be used for murder. So, the townspeople start to wonder if Miss Emily has been killing Homer Barron.
The climax of A Rose for Emily takes place when the townspeople force their way into Miss Emily’s house to find out what has been going on. They find Homer Barron’s body lying in the bed with Miss Emily standing next to him. The townspeople are shocked by what they see and they don’t know how to react. This event is significant because it is the first time that Miss Emily is confronted by the townspeople. Up until this point, she has been able to isolate herself from society.
After Homer Barron’s body is found, Miss Emily starts to change. She becomes more reclusive and she stops leaving her house. The townspeople start to worry about her mental state and they ask the doctor to check on her. The doctor says that she is “a victim of atavism” (100). This means that she has reverted back to a time when women were not treated equally to men. So, Miss Emily is no longer able to function in society because she is living in the past.
