Analysis of the Last Paragraph in A Rose for Emily Essay

The two female cousins came at once. They held the funeral on the second day, with the town coming to look at Miss Emily beneath a mass of bought flowers, with the crayon face of her father musing profoundly above the bier and the ladies sibilant and macabre; and the very old men some in their brushed Confederate uniforms on the porch and the lawn, talking of Miss Emily as if she had been a contemporary of theirs, believing that they had danced with her and courted her perhaps, confusing time with its mathematical progression, as the old do, to whom all the past is not a diminishing road but, instead, a huge meadow which no winter ever quite touches, divided from them now by the narrow bottle-neck of the most recent decade of years.

The paragraph is found at the end of the story. It discusses the funeral of Miss Emily, and the procession of the townspeople to her house. They are coming there out of curiosity, to view for themselves what her house is like, as well as to acknowledge her death. For many of the townspeople, it is their way of recognizing the end of an era, the Old South and its customs. The paragraph is a chronological continuation of the introductory paragraph in the story, where we are told that Miss Emily has died. She is described initially as a fallen monument, leading us to feel that she is an honored citizen of the town. This fallen monument begins to establish a metaphoric base for the story. The paragraph being discussed here continues to discuss Miss Emily in this manner.

Throughout the story, Faulkner tells the story using a series of flashbacks and foreshadowing. The story is not in any form of chronological order. We get snapshots of Miss Emilys life and hints about the future. This is done to increase our curiosity, while at the same time not giving away the climatic ending. By the usage of foreshadowing, Faulkner uses situational irony to keep us from knowing the climatic ending. We are led to believe that Miss Emily may have killed Homer, but not to suspect that she has kept the corpse in her house and is sleeping beside it.

The narrator is one of the townspeople narrating in the 1st person collective. The many references to the pronouns we and our shows that the narrator is speaking on behalf of all the townspeople. The narrator appears to simply tell the story, with no interpretation or explanation of the details of the story. The reader is given none of Miss Emilys thoughts, leaving us with the impression that the narrator and townspeople know nothing of her actual thoughts. The story is told based on bits and pieces of information given to the narrator by others in the town. Accordingly, we cannot be sure of the accuracy of the information. The narrator tells the story as an unknown minor character, with a very limited point of view formed from the information gathered from others in the town.

The use of imagery at the funeral, with the crayon face of her father musing profoundly above the bier shows the control that Miss Emilys father had over her, even in death. Her father had never felt that any man was good enough for her, causing her to overprotect her first love, Homer.

In the paragraph, Faulkner uses only two sentences. The sentence structure is fairly advanced. The first sentence informs us of the two female cousins coming to the funeral at once. The second sentence discusses the townspeople and their obsession to know what Miss Emily is really about. This second sentence uses imaginary concepts felt by the townspeople. The old men, some in their brushed Confederate uniforms, talking of Miss Emily as if she had been a contemporary of theirs, believing that they had danced with her and courted her perhaps, shows their desire to associate and fantasize about their close relationship with Miss Emily, when, in fact, they knew very little about her. To them, Miss Emily represents the Old South, their declining and decaying era, and her death signifies what shall become of them in the near future. The language is both informal and conversational, lacking in reality. Verb usage is passive. Faulkners diction in the story heightens the mystery surrounding Emilys life.

The metaphor A huge meadow which no winter ever quite touches shows us that the memories of the old townspeople are selective and subjective. Like a meadow, they are romantic, fresh, and lively. These are memories from their happy and glorious youth, when the Old South was still vibrant. They are not willing to accept the death of the Old South and the beginning of the New South. To them, Miss Emily is a representative of the Old South, the good times, the way life should be.

The reference to the huge meadow which no winter ever quite touches, divided from them now by the narrow bottle-neck of the most recent decade of years is another example of the New South closing in on the Old South. It is the end of an era for the older townspeople, something they do not want to let go of. Miss Emilys passing is a reminder of this to them.