"A Rose for Emily" - Setting

Question 1

a. Emily can only keep her secrets and hide Homer’s death because she lives in a private home in a small town

Answer 1

i. this story could never be set in an apartment in big city; Emily could have never hid a body for so long in such tight quarters

Question 2

b. the Southern culture as an important part of setting cannot be understated

Answer 2

i. the southern setting does not allow for anyone to suspect that Homer as murdered because it would be rude to confront Emily even if they had suspected her
ii. only in this type of post-civil war southern culture would a judge care so much about someone’s feelings as to allow them to get away with the house smelling so foul. to complain to Emily would be rude in the Southern culture because it might put her out

Question 3

c.

Answer 3

the struggle between “graybeards” of the older generation and the men of the younger generation surrounding the southern culture, customs, and mores is important. the graybeards’ decision overrides that of the younger generation

Question 4

d. Emily is almost not a character at all, but as part of a prominent southern family has been built into the setting to symbolize the tradition southern instituion

Answer 4

i. as part of the setting, Emily is an immovable old Southern institution in Jefferson and so much part of the town that her actions go unnoticed
- she is “jefferson” in many ways and is part of the setting, which makes her an immovable force
- this story could not have happened to anyone else, anywhere else, or in any other time. even other characters in the story don’t get away with what Emily does
- the town accepts her foul-smelling house, allows her to not pay taxes, allows her to not put a postal number on her house, and allows her to get poison regardless of the law because she is an unwavering, immovable part of the town
- Much of this immovable power comes from ehr role as a member of an old souther fmaily. this history is alos part of the setting and drives the plot

Question 5

be sure to loot at all aspects of the setting of a story to get a full analysis

Answer 5

a. setting is more than time and place

b. setting is history, culture, and the entire environment of the story

Question 6

answers

Answer 6

• miss emily, firmly holding onto the ways of the past
• her family name and reputation carry a lot of weight in the South at this time
• the graybeard’s decision overrides that of the younger generation, which shows Southern values
• old southern customs
• southern culture of not bothering a lady of her stature
• no one in jefferson dares question Miss Emily and what she does
• the deep southern culture beliefs that are part of the setting of the story