Point of View Analysis of A Rose for Emily

In William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily”, the narrator assumes the viewpoint of a participant and observer who is also objective. By doing this, Faulkner emphasizes his purpose: to allow the reader to realize that community chooses to isolate certain members of society. This isolation is caused by a community’s desire to single out and observe members of society that they do not understand or find peculiar due to factors like economic status. Through his exclusive diction, contrasting, isolative imagery and revelation of Miss Emily’s inner thoughts and motives, Faulkner allows the narrator to portray this purpose.

Faulkner’s narrator in this short story uses isolative language to separate Miss Emily from himself and the rest of the community. For example, when describing how the town was vigilantly observing Miss Emily and Homer Barron’s relationship, the narrator states, “She carried her head high enough - even when we believed she was fallen.” (Faulkner 30). The use of the word “we” separates the townspeople from Miss Emily as if the townspeople were spectators, watching and criticizing Miss Emily’s life. Later the narrator expresses, “We were a little disappointed that there was not a public blowing-off” (31), when Homer had supposedly vanished from the community. Again the narrator and the townspeople separate themselves from Miss Emily in a spectator like manner. They do so partly because this relationship is taboo, to an extent, in that community and the townspeople do not understand it. The way the narrator narrates from a participating and observant viewpoint highlights the idea that Miss Emily’s life is like an unusual drama unfolding before the eyes of spectators.

The imagery that the narrator uses exemplifies his role as an observer and participant. He singles out Miss Emily’s house by describing it in a contrasting and therefore isolative manner. He observes that, “…only Miss Emily’s house was left, lifting its stubborn and coquettish decay…-an eye sore among eyesores” (26). By using such vivid imagery to stress the point that Miss Emily’s house was distinctive, the narrator further isolates her from the rest of the community. By using the word “eyesore” in particular shows that the narrator describes such imagery due to his role as an observer and participant. He allows the reader to see the town through his observant eyes. Without such isolative imagery the reader may have overlooked Faulkner’s purpose in showing how certain members of society were isolated. As a side point, the house is a symbol of wealth which reflects the idea that communities single out and isolate others on the basis of economic status.

The narrator assumes an objective viewpoint, allowing the reader to know what is occurring by describing it from the outside. Although Miss Emily’s inner thoughts are not straightforwardly revealed, the narrator reveals, for example, Miss Emily’s plan for murder and her inability to let go of people whom she loves. Miss Emily’s behavior shows how she isolates herself from others. Murdering the person who she wants as a companion is an isolating factor that makes the reader further understand the isolation that Miss Emily experienced. The objective view of how the people of the town isolated her is apparent. The narrator describes how the townspeople gossip about Miss Emily for example. Without this objective observation the author’s purpose may have been overlooked.

The authors makes the narrator of “Miss Emily” a participant and observer who is objective in order to inform the reader that communities often isolate certain members due to different factors, like economic status. The viewpoint of the narrator is key because the diction, imagery, and objective nature of the narrator are used together to emphasize and portray this purpose. The type of viewpoint used isolates Miss Emily and singles her out as an unusual spectacle. Therefore this stresses the importance of the specific viewpoint Faulkner decides to use.