A Rose For Emily

            The most important element of a short story is the point of view. The point of view can make or break a character. It can also help the reader determine and understand the minds of the characters. In " A Rose for Emily", by William Faulkner, and "The Cask of Amontillado", by Edgar Allen Poe, the protagonists of the stories commit crimes that go virtually unpunished. In these stories the point of view helps the reader determine how much is known about the character's motives, the basic circumstances of the crime, and how the characters justify the crime.
             One function of the point of view is to allow the readers a chance to see the motives of the murder. In "A Rose of Emily" a narrator, who is a minor character in the story, tells the story in first person. The narrator never knows the thoughts or feelings of Emily. So, like the townspeople in the short story, the readers are on the outside speculating what Emily is thinking. Because of the point of view that is in use, Emily's motives are never clearly shown to the reader. The audience can only guess that because Homer "is not a marrying man" Emily kills him to keep him with her (Faulkner 32). In "The Cask of Amontillado", on the other hand, the story is told in first person participant, so the reader knows everything the narrator is thinking. The reader knows for a fact, that the reason Fortunato is going to be killed is because "he ventures upon insult, and [Montresor] vows revenge" (Poe 1). .
             Another function of the point of view in these short stories is to allow the reader to see the basic circumstances of the crime. In "A Rose for Emily" the reader is once again part of the outside circle. The reader does not clearly see the circumstances revolving around the crime. The reader just knows that Emily, in the past, has lost all the people in her life that she loves, and "with nothing left she has to cling" to Homer so that he would not also abandon her (Faulkner 31).