William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” is not only great in the sense that it is an interesting story to read, but it also introduces readers to a time period much different from the one we now live in. “A Rose for Emily” takes place during the post-Civil War era, in which racism was high and reconstruction of the United States had a huge impact on the way people lived. This story revolves around Emily Grierson, whom was a lonely woman from a wealthy family. All throughout the story, the significance of cultural background is shown in a way that is completely different from how lives are lived now. If this story had taken place in 2016, many things would not have worked out in the way that they did. By looking at both the time period and culture in “A Rose for Emily,” we as readers view the story in a different way based on the background behind this time period; this is important due to the fact that it causes the readers to view the story in a way that is more acceptable than it would have been if the story was based in the 2000’s.

“A Rose for Emily” first begins in the late 1800’s and continues into the early 1900’s. This is shown in the third paragraph of the text where it states, 

“Alive, Miss Emily had been a tradition, a duty, and a care; a sort of hereditary obligation upon the town, dating from that day in 1894 when Colonel Sartoris, the mayor—he who fathered the edict that no Negro woman should appear on the streets without an apron-remitted her taxes, the dispensation dating from the death of her father on into perpetuity.” (Faulkner 1).

This shows that Miss Emily’s father had passed away around this time, considering that is when Colonel Satoris had told Miss Emily that she could live in the house for free, thanks to her father’s help around the town while he was alive. Colonel Satoris claimed that Miss Emily’s father had loaned money to the town (Faulkner 1). It is important to remember this story took place during reconstruction, so many things were changing, including old money families and well-known last names were soon becoming irrelevant. Due to this, Miss Emily’s family had once been important to the town, but over the years she was no longer known to have relevance to the town, and that is why they continued to try to evacuate her from her house because she was not paying for anything.

During this time, people were truly cruel to the black population. In the early 1900’s, the KKK (Ku Klux Klan) was very powerful and strongly populated the south. Many lunching’s of African Americans took place, and so did Cross burnings (Loya 1). It is important to remember that racism was harsh during this time since Miss Emily’s servant, Tobe, was black. He is often referred to “Negro” throughout the entire story, like when the story states, “The Negro man went in and out with the market basket, but the front door remained closed (Faulkner).” Since this story is during the early 1900’s, the term “Negro” was acceptable. If a story had been written in present day and used the term “Negro,” it would be beyond offensive and disrespectful. Also, if “A Rose for Emily” took place now, she would not have had a servant in this manner, since this no longer exists.

If “A Rose for Emily” had taken place in 2016, the story would be extremely different. To start off, “Negro” is not an acceptable term, it is disrespectful and harsh. Especially considering back in this time period, blacks were not considered “Negros” as much as they were considered “Niggers.” This would not fly in 2016 and would cause much ruckus. Also, people do not receive free rent from the city council, no matter what your power holds in the city. Even the rich and famous pay for their own living. Now-a-days, if someone had refused to pay for their own price of living, they would be evacuated from their home, which Miss Emily was not. Also, it is important to remember, if someone had been missing or unseen for quite some time, there would be an investigation. People would have found Homer Barron’s body long before they had, which was when Miss Emily herself had died. 

In the early 1900’s, the life expectancy was around 48 for whites, and 33 years for blacks (Digital History). Miss Emily was said to have died in 1934 at the extreme old age of 74 (Faulkner). This is very shocking for the time she had lived in, and creates the readers to be even more curious as to what Miss Emily had done all the years she had locked herself away in her home, only seeing Tobe, her servant, and Homer Barron, after Homer disappeared from the town. This creates Miss Emily Grierson to shock the readers even more and shows how different things were during this time. Now-a-days, it is highly unlikely for someone to be able to survive alone in a house, considering people need to work to make money, and do many more things around the town, like grocery shopping, considering servants are not a common thing to have.

A way that the time period in “A Rose for Emily” is shown to make an effect on the story is shown a lot through the character Homer Barron. Homer was a Yankee who seemed to be very intimidating to the citizens in the town. Homer Barron’s actions would not have been acceptable now-a-days, considering how racist this man was. This can be shown in the story where it states, “The little boys would follow in groups to hear him cuss the niggers, and the niggers singing in time to the rise and fall of picks (Faulkner).” Homer Barron can also be viewed to be a homosexual, seen where it states, “Then we said, "She will persuade him yet," because Homer himself had remarked--he liked men, and it was known that he drank with the younger men in the Elks' Club--that he was not a marrying man (Faulkner).” Homosexuality was not as accepted back then as it is now, this could be why Miss Emily seemed to not give up with him and accept him for the way that he was. She was determined to be his lover, and this could be seen in the end where it is proven she slept next to his dead body.

In conclusion, William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” shows how the time period and culture in the story changes the way readers view the story based on the background during the early 1900’s; this is important since it causes the readers to view the story in a way that is more acceptable than it would have been if the story was based in the 2000’s. Due to the reconstruction period, this story takes a full turn and creates a unique story that shows the souths deep ties to racism during this time. Faulkner used cultural norms to his advantage while writing this story, and this is shown throughout the story how African Americans were treated, along with how Miss Emily somehow managed to live in complete isolation, due to the help of her “Negro” servant, Tobe. “A Rose for Emily” is a story that truly shows how the time period and culture of a story can completely change its meaning.
