"A Rose for Emily"

Time and setting effect the story "A Rose for Emily" in multiple ways. This story is about Miss Emily Grierson and takes place in a small town in Mississippi during the time of the Civil War. Emily Grierson is a very sad women who has been abandoned by her lover Homer a man who was contracted to build her a sidewalk but was not interested in marriage and has had to suffer through the death of her father and both of these events combined have caused her to become confined to the limits of the walls of her house. Because this story takes place mostly inside of her house it has a feeling of secrecy and solidarity to it, cloaking Miss Emily Grierson in mystery. Also because her house is located in a southern Mississippi town with a rather small population this sets the scene for there to be gossip amongst the towns people about one another. This comes into play when you discover that Miss Emily Grierson thanks to the generosity of Col. Sartoris does not have to pay taxes after the death of her father. Col.Sartoris simply tells her that her father lent the town money and the town saw this as the most fit way to repay its debt. However later in her life Miss Emily Rose is confronted by a newer younger staff of town leaders who see no evidence as to why she is not paying taxes and during the confrontation notice that Miss Emily Rose is not well physicaly and that her house is not sanitary or kept up either. Finally after the town leader sneak into her house and sprinkle lime everywhere after a complaint from several citizens about the smell coming from Miss Emily Grierson's house you learn of a time she purchased arsenic from a druggist which everyone thought she was going to use to committ suicide. Then Emily dies and the people who discovered her also find a secret room in which are neatly folded clothes and socks and shoes on the floor with dust around them as if they were just taken off and in the bed is the rotting remains of Homer and on the pillow next to his one of Miss Emily Griersons Grey hairs.

the setting of Miss Emily Grierson's house allow for a feeling of solidarity. The attitude of the people of that time must also be examined in setting because in the small Mississippi town during the time of the Civil War there is going to be a stronger community ideology and people are going to take more of an interest in one another. This is strengthened by the fact that the towns population is small.