QUESTION 21.

Why did they wait until after the funeral to open the closed room? What word
in the story informs you about the reasons for this delay? Is the delay
consistent with the world of this story?

In the story of A Rose of Emily by William Faulkner, there is a part of the

story where the townsmen waited until Emily safely buried in the ground before they
open the closed room in Emilys house. The sentence from the story was, They
waited until Miss Emily was decently in the ground before they opened it.
The sentence also gives out a reason for the delay. It explains the reason by
one word which was decently proves that it was decent or in other words, the right
thing to do to wait before they break into Emilys closed room.
The word decently stated that they waited out of respect for Emily before
invading her privacy (in this case, Emilys bedroom). This delay tells that the town
folks of Jefferson were a polite and respectful community. It is suitable and
consistent with the flow of the story. The people living were a decent folk and full
mannered. They know what was proper or not and how to treat ladies.
For example, early in the story, when the order was given on Emily to pay
taxes, which she did not pay, they did not out of respect to her. They did not pulled
her out or forced her out from her house. Even when deputation was send, there was
no act of violence. They are proven to be polite, gentlemanly when they rose when
Emily enterered the room.
The same thing happened with the smell came from her house. It was the
decided event that tells the society of Jefferson was a polite, full of gentlemen
behaviour, and good mannerism. They was no one at the time who can tell Emily
that a bad smell had come from her house. There was advice given to threat her but
it was quickly countered with, Will accused a lady to her face of smelling bad? which
left them with no choice but to sneak about Emilys lawn to hide the bad smell.
With that kind of sensitivity, it was only for sure that they will wait for Emily to
really empty her house before they break into the closed room.

QUESTION 22.
Discuss the way in which Faulkner uses Miss Emilys house as an appropriate
setting and as a metaphor for both her and the themes establish by the
narrative.

The grand house in the short story A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner is a
very significant symbol of the story. It can be seen with such details and recurring
mentions of the house. Adding to that, the setting of the house itself is uses from the
beginning of the story and until the end with every important scene occurred in the
location. For example, event about the demand for taxes at the beginning of the
story to the death of her father, until the death of Emily herself.
At the same time, Faulkner also uses the house as the metaphor for Emily
and the themes in the story which are the past and present, and the changes after
time.
The story put emphasizes on the fallen down of once a great monument,
which were the house and Emily herself. Faulkner given words such as, once been
and but in the second paragraph of the story tells that the time will change
something like the house and Emily herself. What was once been a wide, decorated
house full of grandeur became obliterated and left without proper maintenance that it
developed bad smell. It was the same with Emilys life, what was once a high-class
lady from a well-endowed family, whom the people look upon as a tableau had
become an old, fat lady, alone, even in death. Emily was once a lady given full of
admiration and envy from around her became so pitiful that vindictiveness became
sympathy.

(SEM 1C, MARCH 2015)