In his short story A Rose for Emily, William Faulkner utilizes a creative third person narrative which propagates two separate and very different protagonists; both of whom are in conflict with a common themed antagonist. On the first reading of the story, it is apparent the title character, Miss Emily Grierson is the main protagonist. The plot relates the main events of her life as told by an anonymous narrator who seems to be a resident of Miss Emilys unnamed town. Beginning with her death, and then recounting past events, the narrator entices us to feel sympathy for Miss Emily despite the portrayal of her as eccentric, rude and anti-social. Faulkner accomplishes this by identifying several possible antagonist for Miss Emily as the narrator describes the conflicts she had with her dominant Father, her controlling Aunt, and even the town populace. However, after subsequent readings and a closer examination of the narrative, a second protagonist emerges: the townspeople. This conclusion can be reached based on the identity of the narrator, who at one point refers to themselves as we in plural. At another point in the story when Miss Emily purchases Arsenic poison from the drug store, the narrator comments When she opened the package at home there was written .. which indicates a more omniscient point of view. I believe that Faulkner intended the Town; as a separate entity, to be considered as the narrator. Throughout the story, the narrator often promotes a theme of forgiveness, understanding, and even pity for Miss Emily, which also evokes a sense of kinship with the townspeople from the reader. The Town entwines the life of Miss Emily into that of its people, as if the telling of Emilys story is a symbolic statement and
explanation of the trials and troubles they have endured.
The next question is what then is the true antagonist for both of the story's protagonist, and what common conflict do they share. The narrative perspective once again gives us a clue. After relating the sad history of Miss Emily's past suitors, the narrator states So when she got to be thirty and was still single, we were not pleased exactly, but vindicated... which refers to the town's view of the Grierson family and their reputation. The towns people were not against Miss Emily, in fact they felt sorry for her. It was her family name and the history of arrogance, opulence, and entitlement which they resented and wanted to see brought down and humbled; unfortunately Emily was the only one left from which they could extract this demise of the Grierson name. Of course the same conflict existed for Emily, who struggled with her family's high opinion of themselves her whole life. It dominated her and controlled most of her life defined by her Father, her Aunt and even her cousins. Determining her interactions with the town and restricting her social life; it was both her birthright and her burden. In the end, it was these unrealistic expectations from her family which prompted Miss Emily to murder her true love because he was not seen as up to her family standards.