Using strong characterization and dramatic imagery, William Faulkner introduces us to Miss Emily Grierson in "A Rose for Emily." The product of a well-established but now fallen family, Emily plays a common role in literature: a social outcast, who deserves her banishment from society due to her eclectic behavior and reclusive past. Often living in denial and refusing to engage with others, Emily responds to her exile by spending the rest of her life as a mysterious recluse who the rest of society is more content to ignore than break social customs to confront it. Emily's role as an outcast reflects a major theme of the story, that denial is a powerful tool for hiding a secret, but the truth will eventually emerge. The mystery surrounding Emily's character and the story's memorable images create a haunting story that lingers with the reader. “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner is a short story told from the point of view of an unnamed narrator and opens with the death of Miss Emily. Grierson, an elderly woman whom the reader quickly learns the town regards more as a character than an actual human being. Through flashbacks, Emily's mysterious and haunting story is revealed. As a child, Emily was a member of an aristocratic family, but she has long lived in relative poverty in her family's former grand house after her father left her penniless. A product of the Civil War in the South, Emily never outgrew the social customs of her youth and refused to live by modern standards. This becomes evident when she accepts the mayor's hidden handout under the guise that she never owes taxes due to a lie that her father loaned money to the city and that was how the city would recover... middle of paper ... ...happened. Emily's neighbors refuse to acknowledge it and instead try to mask the smell with lime. They try to excuse themselves for not finding the real source of the rotten smell by saying that it would be wrong to tell a lady that her house smells bad. Even if they and Emily have accepted this charade, it cannot completely disappear. The truth finally emerges after his death, when it is revealed that Homer had been rotting in his bridal bed ever since the town thought he was gone. It is a powerful image when the state of decadence is described to the reader and the townspeople realize that a single strand of Emily's gray hair is proof that she has slept beside him for all these years. Works Cited Faulkner, William. “A rose for Emily.” A critical introduction to short fiction. Ed. JoAnn Buck et al. Southlake: Fountainhead Press. 96-103. Print.