A Web for Emily

"Then we noticed that in the second pillow was the indentation of a head.  One of us lifted something from it, and leaning forward, that faint and invisible dust dry and acrid in the nostrils, we saw a long strand of iron gray-hair." (pg 432)

This is the very last line in "A Rose for Emily."  At this point the reader realizes that Emily had killed Homer Barron in order to keep him forever.  This quote suggests that her love lasted through time.

Poor Emily

She has family in Alabama, but her father had a falling out with them

Her father died and she denied it for three days.

Miss Grierson's house smells and the village attempts to change that.

Her father used to drive boys away, and her love has left her.

She is going to kill herself with rat poison.

The narrator seems sypathetic towards Emily, but do you feel sorry for her once you learn what she's done?

Is Love Everlasting?

Did Homer love Miss Emily?

"Homer himself had remarked--he liked men, and it was known that he drank with the younger men in the Elk's Club--that he was not a marrying man."

Miss Emily loved Homer so much that she poisoned him to keep him forever.

The story has a large sense of irony, because not only does Miss Emily kill the person she loves, but the narrator is also very sympathetic for Miss Emily.

Narrative Structure