A Rose For Emily
A Rose for Emily Summary | Detailed Summary The whole town went to the funeral of Emily Grierson. It was held in a large house, decorated in a garish, baroque style, in what once was the best of neighborhoods, an area now invaded by cotton gins and garages. She would be buried in the cemetery, beside the remains of distinguished neighbors, whose houses had long surrendered to the perverse progress of the new, commercial neighborhood, along with, of course, some soldiers of the Civil War, from both sides, buried anonymously, but with honor. Emily was respected by the men of the town. They had gone to her funeral to pay their respects. However, the women had a different perspective. They had been driven by curiosity. After all, no one, except one solitary servant, had been inside her house in ten years. Emily had the curious distinction of having her taxes paid by the town since 1894, a tradition that was developed through a fiction created by the then mayor, Colonel Sartoris, who claimed this honorarium was in repayment for a loan given to the town by her father. It was a fiction she believed in, for she wouldn't have accepted charity. However, in a future generation, Colonel Sartoris' invention was disregarded and Miss Emily was billed for her taxes. However, the tax notice received no reply. Later, the aldermen wrote her a letter, charging her to visit the sheriff's office. With still no reply, the Mayor wrote, saying he would drop by or have a car sent for her. She wrote back, stylishly, that she did not go out anymore. In the note, she enclosed the tax notice. As this was an unusual affront to he heads of the city, the aldermen called a meeting. The decided to visit her en masse in her home. They smelled the dusty signs of neglect and were led to the parlor where they sat on cracked, leather furniture as sunbeams shot through a solitary window, dust particles spinning silently in the heavy air. Miss Emily was not a pretty sight anymore. Her petite frame...
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