A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner - Essay Example

Short Essay In William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily”, it can be seen that Emily had a tremendous impact on her society for all that she was a helpless little old woman with no independent means and little to no social interaction. There are several instances in which she can be seen to be controlling others with very little effort and tremendous effect. While she had an impact on her society, it seems the reverse is also true, her society had little to no impact upon her. Even when they attempt to open communications with Emily, either out of concern or from rule of law, the community is unable to gain any concessions from Emily and is instead completely rebuffed and baffled as to what to do next.

Emily has a tremendous impact on her society as a result of her refusal to be touched by them regardless of any efforts they might make to the contrary. The inscrutability of Miss Emily can be seen first in the town’s attempts to collect taxes from her. According to the narrator, this was a long process that ended in Miss Emily’s still not paying any taxes and with only minimum effort on her part. Although several notes were sent to her regarding the matter, Miss Emily sent only one in reply, informing the elders that she wouldn’t leave her home and enclosing the tax bill in the envelope without paying it or acknowledging it.

The town elders called meetings to discuss the matter and put together a deputation to intimidate Emily into paying her taxes, but when they arrived, it was Miss Emily who intimidated them. “Her voice was dry and cold. ‘I have no taxes in Jefferson. Colonel Sartoris explained it to me. Perhaps one of you can gain access to the city records and satisfy yourselves … See Colonel Sartoris, I have no taxes in Jefferson’” (435). With these simple words, Miss Emily roundly defeated the entire deputation, who remained baffled as to how to deal with her.

In a similar way, Miss Emily also intimidated the townspeople earlier about the smell that was emanating from her home. Rather than confronting her about it, though, the townsmen gathered to do something on their own. “After midnight, four men crossed Miss Emily’s lawn and slunk about the house like burglars, sniffing along the base of the brickwork and at the cellar openings while one of them performed a regular sowing motion with his hand out of a sack slung from his shoulder” (436).

The source of the smell wasn’t identified until after Miss Emily herself had been buried, testimony to the effectiveness with which she had impacted the entire community regarding her preference to live completely alone and unbothered. While Miss Emily might have preferred to keep to herself, the fact that she lived within a town would seem to indicate that she would be required to interact with town members at least on a sometime basis and to follow all the same rules and regulations as the rest of society.

However, through her stubborn refusal to discuss her motives, actions, preferences or anything else about her, she can be seen to affect the entire community. She does this by instilling a sense of dread in them regarding their intrusions upon a respected old family even though she has no power of her own and is decidedly in the wrong regarding her taxes, the poison she purchases from the pharmacist and the dead body she keeps in her bed. Works Cited Faulkner, William. “A Rose for Emily.

” A Portable Faulkner. Malcolm Cowley (Ed.). New York: Penguin Books, 1977, pp. 430-444.