A Rose for Emily

            In, A Rose for Emily, William Faulkner uses the element of time to enhance the plot and details of the story. By avoiding the chronological order of events of Miss Emily's life, Faulkner first gives the reader a finished puzzle, and then allows the reader to examine this puzzle piece-by-piece, step-by-step.
             The story is split into five sections. The first section begins with Miss Emily's funeral and moves on to her past. Faulkner first recaptures the dispensation of Miss Emily's taxes in 1894, he continues by illustrating Miss Emily's nature of not accepting new concepts. When the next generation, with its more modern ideas, comes along, Miss Emily refuses to accept them. Miss Emily's mixed feeling about the past is reflected in the structure of the story. Unlike most stories, the narrator does not continue the plot with the next chronological event; rather he presents one that happened two years earlier. This switch, mirrors Miss Emily's unclear state of mind. The story's disjointed time frame not only reflects a puzzled memory but it also suggests Miss Emily's unwillingness to move along with time. While the reader reads through time and expects the story to be in sequence, Faulkner deliberately switches the time back and forth to emphasize Miss Emily's desire to stay in past.
             After the author introduces the character of Miss Emily, he goes back even further into the past to explain why Miss Emily possesses her unique personality. He also contributes to the development of Miss Emily's personality through the introduction of her father, Homer Barron, and Miss Emily's great aunt who influenced her maturity and experience of life. The insanity of Miss Emily's great aunt, old lady Wyatt, suggests that Miss Emily's craziness may be passed on from her family line. By informing the reader about old lady Wyatt's insanity, Faulkner foreshadows Miss Emily's own madness.
             While most stories are written in chronological order, this story is broken up into characters to build up Miss Emily's personality both externally and internally.