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- Did the end of the story surprise you, or were you prepared for it? Explain.
- The community thought of Emily and her father "as a tableau"- a kind of a dramatic picture. This tableau suggests conflict. What conflicts do you think existed between Emily and her father?
- How is Colonel Sartoris's white lie to Miss Emily about her taxes an attempt to spare her any embarrassment? Explain how Judge Stevens has also taken steps to avoid embarrassing her. how do the later changes in attitude toward Miss Emily's taxes reflect wider social and economic changes in the South?
- Why do you think Faulkner emphasizes the way Miss Emily's hair turned gray - and what do you think is significant about the time it started to happen?
- What significance do you see in the long strand of iron-gray hair found on the second pillow?
- What part do you think Tobe, the manservant, plays in Miss Emily's history?
- What sort of person do you think the narrator of the story is? Is it a man or woman? Does the narrator pity Miss Emily? Admire her? Hold her in contempt?
- The critics noted of this story: "The community is nearly everywhere in Faulkner's work as an important force and, diffused and anonymous though it be, it becomes one of the most important elements in the story… Miss Emily Grierson is one of the numerous characters in Faulkner's work who are warped by their inheritance from the past and who are cut off from the community - sometimes by their own will - to their detriment." Do you agree with these critics? Why or why not?
- Another observation made by the same critics is that Faulkner's story has significance far beyond its horror-story ending: "to read 'A Rose for Emily' as merely a piece of cheap Southern Gothicism, an attempt to shock and horrify would be to miss the point." Do you agree or disagree with these critics? What is the point of the story, in your opinion?
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