Point of View in Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily"
             In William Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily," the town of Jefferson is more than just the setting. It is a character with a voice and values, and ultimately it is the narrator. Throughout the story, the reader knows more about the town itself than about Emily Grierson. However, it is through the town's attitudes and the narrative voice of an unnamed townsperson that Emily's character is discovered.
             The narrator, the voice of the town, knows the life story of Miss Emily Grierson through gossip, speculations, and legends of the town. The story begins at the end, at the funeral of Miss Emily. The narrator, or voice of "our whole town" describes Emily as "a tradition, a duty, and a care" (465-66). The people of the town have their own views about Emily. They attend her funeral for different reasons: "the men through a sort of respectful affection for a fallen monument, the women mostly out of curiosity to see the inside of her house" (465).
             The narrator reflects back on the town's sense of responsibility for Miss Emily, and gives the reader the example of Col. Satoris remitting Emily's taxes in 1894. Throughout the story, generations change, the need to pacify Miss Emily is gone, and there is an attempt to collect these taxes. However, Emily, now in her sixties, does not allow this to happen. "So she vanquished them, horse and foot, just as she vanquished their fathers thirty years before about the smell" (476). It is important to notice how the narrator is now speaking from knowledge gained from the community to understand this story is told from the viewpoint of the entire town of Jefferson. Townspeople begin to complain about the rancid smell coming from Miss Emily's house, so the town interferes with Emily's affairs.
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