A rose for Emily by William Faulkner

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Plot Development in “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner
The plot development of “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner is unique since the story is derived from the collective memory of town people about the protagonist of the story, Emily Grierson.
The story starts with the funeral of Emily Grierson and creates suspense through the reasons because of which the whole town is going to her funeral. The narrator discloses that men went to Emily’s funeral because of “respectful affection for a fallen monument” while women “out of curiosity to see the inside of her house” (Faulkner 79). These lines disclose that Emily’s status was of an idol and she was living an isolated life. These are the two basic conflicts of the story that set the plot in motion from the start to the end.
The background of the conflict in Emily’s life is provided through the exposition, in which her character is introduced and information about her circumstances is provided. The narrator tells that Emily is the last living Grierson living in a Southern town as the symbol of Southern Pride and preserver of traditions. The town people view her as an idol “with a vague resemblance to those angels in colored church windows” and are not ready to accept her behaving like a normal human (Faulkner 83). The rising action appears in the story when she starts taking interest in Homer and the relation of a man of the lower class with a woman of higher social position was opposed by the society.

The narrative style of the story is not linear because Emily’s story is narrated by all the town people hence the progression of events cannot follow the linear path. Moreover, the nonlinear narration lengthens the rising action of the story and, without any falling action or resolution, the story ends on the climax. The climax or the moment at which the plot reaches its point of greatest emotional intensity is when the mystery of Emily’s life unveiled through a dark secret. After Emily’s death, town people visited her house and made a gruesome discovery that since years Emily has kept the dead body of her lover with her. The ending of the story leaves the readers to interpret the recollections of town people and draw a conclusion and resolution on their own.
The plot development Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” not only shapes the events of the story forward but also engages the readers from the start till the end by extended rising actions and an intense ending.

Works Cited
Faulkner, William. “A Rose for Emily.” Mississippi Writers: An Anthology. Ed. Dorothy Abbott, Univ. Press of Mississippi, 1991. pp.79-88.