Isolated Emily

William Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily" encapsulates the general isolation of a lonely woman in a Southern, nosey town. From the plural first person point of view, the narrator includes himself with the townspeople, thus serving as the first indication of the distance and isolation between Miss Emily and the townspeople of Jefferson. The townspeople gather on occasion to discuss issues regarding Miss Emily's estate: the tax affair and the smell of the house. As a general concensus, the "we" indicate "they" must do something about "her." She is isolated from their decisions. I found it especially peculiar that she didn't even know Colonel Sartoris had been dead; this could be in part the fault of the people for failing to include her in town affairs.
"Then we noticed that in the second pillow was the indentation of a head." The townspeople realized in unison here the essence behind Miss Emily's lonely life. She found her company in the dead sweetheart, whom she may or may not have poisoned. Again, the townspeople make their own suppositions regarding Emily and her lifestyle.

Aside from the evident unison of the first person account, there was rose imagery to hint at the plausible explanation for the title. The rose imagery found in Homer Barron's indicated death room- "...faded rose color" and "rose-shaded lights"- serve a purpose. Here lies Miss Emily's dead sweetheart; he was the only rose in her life, the only form of love and supposed beauty.

Talking to Yourself?

I thouroughly enjoyed Jake Barnes' inner discussions with himself throughout the story. They subtly revealed the not-so-nice-nature of Jake and his willingness to harbor feelings, especially when it came to Brett. The first person account of the novel made it easy to dig deeper into Jake's character since we can literally read his thoughts. One of my favorite inner conversations Jake has with himself appears on page 105 of The Sun Also Rises. He feels "the impulse to devil [Cohn]" as jealousy of Cohn and Lady Ashley's relationship get the best of Jake. He goes back and forth with himself talking about the reasons he hates Cohn, especially because he acted "superior at lunch" that day. Jake decides to stash the telegram from Brett and hide the news from Cohn. This part of the story reveals the human weakness of jealousy in all of us. When it comes to those we love, it is easy to find competition threatening to our relationships. Although Jake can't be with Brett, he tries to protect their complicated love in all ways possible.