In “A Rose For Emily” by William Faulkner, you can see that Emily had power. She was told countless times that she had to pay taxes and even even received many letters telling her to do so. When they visited her house to tell her upfront that she had to pay taxes, she said “I have no taxes in Jefferson. Colonel Sartoris explained it to me. Perhaps one of you can gain access to the city records and satisfy yourselves.”(p2 section 1). Even owning a butler shows that she has power because she orders him to do things that she herself would not do. Another person who had power was her father. Her father had driven away all the young men that were around Emily.(p3 section 2) I felt that the people who hopped into Emily’s yard to fix her odor problem has power. They complained many times to Board of Alderman saying that her place smelled bad, but in the end the Board of Alderman did nothing. So at night they would sneak into the yard and sprinkle lime to erase the harsh odor.

The people who didn’t have power were the Board of Alderman, who told Emily to pay for taxes. All the times they told her to pay taxes she never did and wounded up with nothing in the end. I felt like Emily herself was powerless against her father because she had no contact to boys when she was young and had to do whatever he told her to do. She was also being talked about because she never stepped outside of her house and not even been with a man even though her father has passed.

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In “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner, “Miss Emily had been a tradition, a duty, and a care; a sort of hereditary obligation upon the town”(section1, para3) when she was alive. She didn’t have to pay taxes because Colonel Sartoris, the mayor, lied that her father had lent money to the town. Also when the tax notice was sent to Miss Emily later on, she completely ignored. Even when the deputation visited her house and “the spokesman came to a stumbling halt,” (sec1, pa7) she didn’t even talked back to the visitors. She vanquished them in her dry and cold voice. Not paying for taxes, and her reaction to the town and visitors shows that Miss Emily plays a role as power dynamic.

Also Miss Emily’s power dynamic is implied in section 3 of the story when she went to the druggist to get poison. She didn’t even ask the druggist to get arsenic but she just stated that she wants it. And the druggist said “If that’s what you want. But the law requires you to tell what you are going to use it for.” Then the narrator describes that Miss Emily didn’t tell the druggist the reason even if it is required by the law. “Miss Emily just stared at him, her head tilted back in order to look him eye for eye, until he looked away and went and got the arsenic and wrapped it up.” (section 3 last paragraph) Even though druggist couldn’t sell the arsenic without proper reason of using it by the law, he couldn’t reject her. In this scene the druggist doesn’t have power in contrast to Miss Emily.

The narrator in this story is one of the people in the town. Even though the narrator knows that the town thought of her as a duty or a care, they were not able to say anything in front of her because she is a tradition and last dignity in the town that they have to accept.

Even Miss Emily’s death was powerful. Although some were not there to show her respect, because she had been a tradition and a duty to the whole town that they have to care, the town came to her funeral.

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Choose (and include in your post) a passage or a few related passages that highlight some aspect of the power dynamics at play in the story. Who has power, who doesn’t, how do they interact, how to they negotiate their positions of powerfulness or lack of power?  Other factors to consider: how does narration style, point of view, setting, characterization or other elements of fiction play a role in the power dynamic you’re analyzing?  Much of what was raised in our online discussion touched on power, but in very different ways. If there is a different topic that you would like to address, either see how it intersects with this topic of power, or raise it in our discussion either on the site or in Wednesday’s class

The main character Emily has power, yet she can not help the things that happen in her life. This happens again and again in the story. In the beginning, Emily has the power to stop people from making her do something about her house smelling. This can be displayed with the Judge Stevens repeated failed to confront Emily about the house. Instead of talking to her like the neighbors suggested, he sent people to lime the house on her behalf. Later in the story, Emily has the power to refuse to pay tax (partly because of her father’s influence). She ‘vanquished them’ like she did for the smell.

Another example could be seen in this passage:

The druggist looked down at her. She looked back at him, erect, her face like a strained flag. “Why, of course,” the druggist said. “If that’s what you want. But the law requires you to tell what you are going to use it for.” Miss Emily just stared at him, her head tilted back in order to look him eye for eye, until he looked away and went and got the arsenic and wrapped it up. The Negro delivery boy brought her the package; the druggist didn’t come back. When she opened the package at home there was written on the box, under the skull and bones: “For rats.”

Even though the druggist knew for a fact nothing required something as strong as arsenic, Emily had the power to make the druggist give it to her anyways.

The only thing she was powerless for was when her father died, and her lover left her. In order to prevent this powerless feeling, she preserved Homer Barron’s love by keeping him by her side forever.

Even more so, people are always whispering about Emily, gossiping about Emily, and talking about Emily. The narration of the story focuses on Emily in a way that tells us that everyone in town also focuses on Emily. This gives the readers a feeling that she was a powerful person, and that she was important. The main power dynamic was between Emily and life.

Ultimately, this was an amazing read! Love the twist and the though provoking writing!

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