The story “A Rose for Emily” is a dark piece written by William Faulkner. Faulkner successfully uses a reminiscent tone to illustrate how Emily's popularity or status in society, the legacy of the Grierson family name, has kept viewers of Jefferson City blind from the truth that Emily Grierson tragically killed her lover, Homer Barron. This story is far from today's reality, because the fact is that in today's society, when people's lives are in the spotlight, as in Emily's case, viewers like to snoop and investigate any suspicious behavior. The narrator uses the word "we" while providing flashbacks to Emily's past, which suggests that these flashbacks are memories of multiple people. It is clear that the narrator is piecing together all the circumstantial evidence gathered from the people around Emily's hometown of Jefferson. This circumstantial evidence could have incriminated Emily for Homer's murder, but no person attempts to investigate the suspicious circumstances before Emily's death. he could have charged her with Homer's murder before he died. Faulkner's use of the first person shows that Emily is the most famous member of this town, because she is Jefferson's last remaining person of the famous Grierson bloodline and has importance to the people of the town, which is also , which gives reason to explain to Jefferson's people why they ignored the obvious clues that Emily is mentally deranged and was mentally unstable, due to her father's death, and capable of premeditated murder. In the narrators' memories of Emily's past, many details turn out to be given about how, when, why and how Homer might have died. Emily's father chased men away from... middle of paper... respectful of this city monument. Emily's bloodline had been so important to the city's history that it would be shameful to question the Grierson family name. The citizens' reactions to Emily's behavior, which led to Homer's death, are completely different from the way today's society would react; however, in the day and time that this story is about, mental illness is something shameful and something that people don't address or recognize as a real medical problem. Today, anyone with even a modicum of wealth or fame is publicly scrutinized and all of their private actions and secrets are made public by the media for the world to see and hear. Why Jefferson's citizens protected Emily by not investigating is questionable; However, it appears that her family's importance to the town played a large role in Emily's ability to get away with the murder.