The narrator in Flaukner story was one of the town’s people who knew Emily. The narrator lived and experienced actions as Emily was alive. The narrator was aware of many things happened that time and that what makes the story detailed and very powerful. When Emily’s father was alive, he was the character with power in beginning of the story. He was keeping everyone away from Emily, which caused her this mental illness that came form loneliness. Afterwards, I believe Emily was having the largest portion of power in the story. First of all, she didn’t pay taxes and she always ignores and disclaims the tax notices. In the passage, “They wrote her a formal letter, asking her to call at the sheriff’s office at her convenience. A week later the mayor wrote her himself, offering to call or to send his car for her, and received in reply a note on paper of an archaic shape,” (Page I, p.4) the author mentions that the sheriff has sent Emily multiple notices and even asked her to reach his office at her convenience. That show the position of power Miss Emily had.
Miss Emily’s power can be demonstrated in the passage where the city authorities were trying to get in touch with her and “She did not ask them to sit. She just stood in the door and listened quietly until the spokesman came to a stumbling halt,” (Page I, p.7).
According to my understanding, Miss Emily was that type of person who was living her separate world applying her own ideas and rules on her life.
You raise an interesting perspective on power. Can Emily have power if she lives apart from everyone else in the story? Is that separation part of her power?
Throughout the story, Emily have been treated with upmost royalty and respect; a pauper with a servant. According to one of my classmate Gavin ” it seems as if Emily is Caucasian due to the fact that she do have a servant to fetch and do any run around town. That is power from my perspective. When a person is seen daily versus every once in a while, creates a different feeling; being missed. Emily presence creates curiosity, everyone wanted to know what she was all about; stories was told about her existence. Taken from third paragraph: Alive, Miss Emily had been a tradition, a duty, and a care; a sort of hereditary obligation upon the town……… This is power, Emily is consider a tradition. We all know what tradition is something that is practice by a group of people years and years to come. Then the narrator considered her a duty, then went on to say care. Miss Emily was the boss of the new generation, old school in her ways they couldn’t even get her to talk, if she did not want to.