Transcript Plot Structure of “A Rose for Emily”

Plot Structure of
“A Rose for Emily”
Essential Question:
What did Faulkner accomplish
by writing his story
nonlinearly?
(YOU WANT TO BE ABLE TO ANSWER
THIS QUESTION BY THE END OF
Plot of Plot of “A Rose for Emily”
 By taking apart Faulkners story we are
able to see the genius of the plot structure
Plot of Plot of “A Rose for
Emily” : Linear Timeline
Section II
Her father dies, and for three days she refuses to
acknowledge his death.
Section III Homer Barron arrives in town and begins to court Miss
Emily.
Section IV She buys a man’s silver toilet set—a mirror, razor, brush &
comb—and men’s clothing.
Section III The town relegates her to disgrace and sends for her
cousins.
Section IV The cousins arrive, and Homer leaves town.
Section IV Three days after the cousins leave, Homer returns.
Section III Miss Emily buys poison at the local drug store.
Section IV Homer disappears.
Section II A horrible stench envelops Miss Emily’s house.
Section II Four town aldermen secretly sprinkle lime on her lawn.
ect…(see you flow chart for the rest)
Plot of Plot of “A Rose for Emily”
 But reconstructing the plot in a linear
fashion renders Faulkner’s masterpiece
an injustice
 Let’s find out why…
Plot of Plot of “A Rose for Emily”
 Let’s look at the central events chronologically:
 Miss Emily’s Father dies and she wants to keep his
body
 Miss Emily buys poison
 Homer Barron disappears suddenly
 A horrible stench surrounds the house
 It is apparent why she buys the poison, and
what causes the stench—she killed Homer!
 There is no mystery about what happened to
Homer and what the smell is
Plot of “A Rose for Emily”
 When we continue to look
chronologically at the remaining events
after Homer’s death, the story is quite
dull:
Emily isn’t seen for 6 months
Emily gives china painting lessons
Men see her about her taxes
She dies…
Plot of Plot of “A Rose for
Emily”
 When we take the plot apart, the only
surprise we are left with is at the end and
the shocking realization that Miss Emily has
slept for many years in the same bed with
her dead lover’s rotting corpse.
 The horror of this knowledge makes the
murder of Homer almost insignificant when
compared to the necrophilia.
Necrophilia:a morbid attraction toward corpses
Plot of Plot of “A Rose for Emily”
 If the story was written in a linear fashion,
half way through the story, the reader
would know that Emily obviously murdered
Homer
 But because we only get bits of the story at
random times, the story acts like a murder
mystery
Plot of Plot of “A Rose for Emily”
 At the end of the story, the reader is not
only shocked that Emily murdered
Homer, but they are horrified to find she
was sleeping with his dead body as well
 The end is dual--climatic (double
whammy climax)
Plot of Plot of “A Rose for Emily”
 The greatness of the story lies not
making the plot linear
 Instead it is great because Faulkner
leaves us horrified as we discover, bit by
bit, the mystery of Emily Grieson’s life
 The reader experiences an epiphany (an
ah ha! moment of realization)
What Does the Title Mean?
Why Plot of “A Rose for Emily”
Let me hear your ideas…
 William Faulkner speaks on “A Rose for Emily” in
1955:
 I feel sorry for Emily's tragedy; her tragedy
was, she was an only child, an only daughter.
At first when she could have found a husband,
could have had a life of her own, there was
probably some one, her father, who said, "No,
you must stay here and take care of me." And
then when she found a man, she had had no
experience in people. She picked out probably
a bad one, who was about to desert her. And
when she lost him she could see that for her
that was the end of life, there was nothing left,
except to grow older, alone, solitary; she had
had something and she wanted to keep it,
 but I pity Emily. I don't know whether I would
have liked her or not, I might have been
afraid of her. Not of her, but of anyone who
had suffered, had been warped, as her life
had been probably warped by a selfish
father . . . . [The title] was an allegorical
title; the meaning was, here was a woman
who had had a tragedy, an irrevocable
tragedy and nothing could be done about it,
and I pitied her and this was a salute . . . to
a woman you would hand a rose.
Complete you C-Notes
 4: Level One Questions
 3: Level Two Question
 2: Level Three Questions
 Use the column provided
 Space your questions throughout the entire
length of your notes
 Write a 5 sentence summary and make sure
you can answer the essential question from
the front page!