Joao Felipe Costa
09/10/13
English 110 AA
Ms. Floro

Character Development Concepts
“A Rose For Emily”
Protagonist: Emily Grierson
Antagonist: Mr. Grierson (Emily’s father) / Homer Barron In the short story “ A Rose For Emily” by William Faulkner, the protagonist, Emily Grierson is a round character for being multi-dimensional as she is described with several recognizable complex character traits. Emily is introduced as a southern in her thirties who lives with her father, Mr. Grierson in the south in an old lonely house. Her father controls Emily’s life as he obstructs her attempts on getting married. Mr. Grierson dies and Emily starts to become sick in the head when she refuses to accept her father’s death for three days straight. Emily then starts to exclude herself from society and becomes extremely lonely. Emily is also a dynamic character because we see a transformation when she meets Homer Barron, a foreman from the north. Emily begins to spend quality time with Homer and the community thinks they are going to marry each other. However, we find that Homer is not a marrying man, and he enjoys his friends more than being committed. Emily goes insane and buys rat poison, which she uses to kill Homer. She hides his body on her bed for many years. During this period of time, she remains hidden inside her house, and the only signal of life we get from Emily is from her servant Tobe, who takes care of her as he goes in and out of the house to get anything she needs.