"A Rose for Emily"- William Faulkner

     I found Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily" quite creepy.  Not only are the plot elements out of the ordinary, I question the perspective from which the story is told.  The story is told in first person plural with the "we" seemingly representing society as a whole.  The story is biased by the .  The story materializes out of thin air.  The audience knows not the difference between reality and exaggeration derived from societal gossip.  The entirety of my doubt manifests from one single quotation from the beginning of the second section:

"After her father's death she went out very little; after her sweetheart went away, people hardly saw her at all" (Faulkner, 283)

     

     From this, the unreliability of the source is presented.  The narrator(s) had little verbal connection to Emily Grierson.  Therefore, the accuracy of the information about Emily's life can be called into question.  Additionally, Emily's manservant rarely speaks to anyone weakening the narrator's/s' case.  The entire short story is based on careful observation/stalking.  Emily's house and her movement into, out of, and within are closely scrutinized.  Throughout the story and throughout her life, it seems as if nothing Emily does is ever good enough, and the "I can't win with these people" mindset is set in her at an early age.