The Importance of Setting in a Rose for Emily

Setting often provides more then just a mere backdrop for the action in the story. It is probably the most important part of the putting together a story. In this story the setting is a reflection of the character as much as the town. The physical setting, time setting and cultural settings are all important parts of this short story, Physical setting is to give the readers a sense of what the environment is for the story. The physical setting for A rose for Emily is important because it reflect the life of Emily, the main character.
In this story the setting takes place in the southern town of Jefferson. Miss Emily Grierson lived in a house that had a “big squarish frame that had once been white, decorated with cupolas and spires and scrolled balconies. ” A house so beautiful it was meant for some body of high stature. The house was so old that is “smelled of dust and disuse. ” The scenes in this story most take place in the town and in Miss Emily’s house.
A great example of a physical setting is when Faulkner describes the town’s men sprinkling lime around her property to get rid of a bad smell. “As they re crossed the lawn, a window that had been darkness was lighted and Miss Emily sat in it, the light behind her, and her upright torso motionless as that of an idol. ” It was almost like you were there with the men feeling the same creepy feeling, when seeing her in the window. Another great physical description of setting is when Faulkner describes Miss Emily’s death. She dies in one of the downstairs rooms, in a heavy walnut bed with a curtain, her grey head propped on a pillow yellow and moldy with age and lack of sunlight. ” Faulkner does a great job at leaving us with a powerful image of the physical. Time period is an essential part to any story. It helps the reader to understand the language that is used and the way it was acceptable to live and dress. The time setting for this story takes place in the late 1800’s and the early 1900’s.

In an era when black people were slaves and people of high stature were respected by all. The town in this story grows with the time but the main character Miss Emily will not. “The town had just let in the contracts for paving the side walks. ” When the newer generation becomes the back bone and spirit of the town Miss Emily didn’t move ahead with the times. “When the town got free postal delivery, Miss Emily alone refused to let them fasten the metal numbers above her door and attach a mailbox to them. It was like Miss Emily was stuck in a particular time in the life and wanted to live like that. Culture is also important to the setting in the story being told. Miss Emily was a Grierson.
The high and might Grierson’s as they were known in Jefferson. Faulkner talks about how “Miss Emily had gone to join the representatives of the august names where they lay in a cedar-bemused cemetery among the ranked and anonymous graves of the union and confederate soldiers who fell at the battle of Jefferson. By describing this culture setting Faulkner is setting the tone for what kind of character Emily is, and what kind of family she had. The Grierson’s were a powerful family in Jefferson, royalty if you will, and Emily was the last of this great family. He then goes on to describe how “Colonel Sartoris invented an involved tale to the effect that Miss Emily’s father had loaned money to the town, which the town, as a matter of business preferred this way of repayment. ” Remitting Miss Emily’s taxes was a way of showing respect for her name.
Making up this tale was something only a man of his ranking at the time could do and a tale that only a woman would believe. When the town started to smell the bad smell and the men had sprinkled lime on her property to rid the bad smell. The town did not want to call her out on it because as Judge Stevens said “will you accuse a lady to her face of smelling bad? ” The towns’ people all had their suspicions of what the bad smell really was. “She carried her head high enough- -even when we believed that she was fallen. “It was as if she demanded more then ever the recognition of her dignity as the last Grierson, as if it had wanted to touch of earthiness to reaffirm her imperviousness. By understanding A Rose for Emily one can see how much of an impact setting can have on the life of a person. The way it can shape one’s thoughts is incredible and sometimes unbearable to believe. Whether the setting is physical, time, or culture it is as you can see a very important part of any story, and enables the reader to understand the character on a deeper level.