A Rose for Emily

"A Rose for Emily" by William Faulkner

"As we had expected all along, within three days Homer Barron was back in town. A neighbor saw the Negro man admit him at the kitchen door at dusk one evening. And that was the last we saw of Homer Barron" (Faulkner, page 287).

The motive behind the death in the short story takes up the entirety of the story. The one dead seems to be Homer. Emily had a past of not wanting to let go. Mostly with her father, Emily seemed to struggle to let go of him after he passed. Keeping him in the house after his death for a few days showed Emily not wanting to let him go and move out of her past. Clues such as Homer entering the home and never leaving and Emily's purchases lead to believe that Homer is dead at the end of the story. Emily also bought arsenic which is poisonous and did not want to confess what the arsenic would be used for. All of these motives lead to believe that Emily killed Homer. The motive behind the murder seemed to be his openness about his homosexuality. It is mentioned that he spent time with men out at bars. Along with Emily's struggle to let go, she probably did not want Homer to leave her even though there was no chance of them ever getting married so she killed him so he could not leave her. Emily also cannot let go of the past as she believes that she still does not need to pay any taxes.