First I have to say that A Rose for Emily is really the hardest story that we are going to read during this whole semester. Nothing else will be this hard. Why did I give you this hard story immediately at the beginning of the semester? I don't know. But everything else is much easier from here on.
Many people are asking this question--is there really a connection between Emily's killing of the Yankee and her being allowed not to pay taxes? Let's go through this slowly.
1. Here we have a story which is only 12 pages. In such a short story, everything has to connect to everything else. Everything is important. Everything that is here has a reason to be here. So what is the importance of the remitting of Emily's taxes (her being allowed not to pay taxes)? This is one of the first things we learn about Emily, that she doesn't pay taxes. What is this fact doing here? Does it simply show us that Emily is special, different from others? And why does the narrator (the person who is telling the story) mention this fact twice--on page 119-120 near the beginning, and then again on page 128?
2. Let's look slowly at what it actually says about Emily's taxes being remitted. A lot of people are saying, "Well, she didn't have to pay taxes after her father died, but Homer Barron died two years later, therefore these two things can't be connected." But what does the story say? Emily doesn't have to pay taxes
"from that day in 1894 when Colonel Sartoris... remitted her taxes, the dispensation dating from the death of her father on into perpetuity."
Does this mean that when Emily's father died--at the time when he died--because he died--Col. Sartoris decided that Emily doesn't have to pay taxes? No, it means that at some time Col. Sartoris decided that Emily doesn't have to pay taxes, and that she doesn't have to pay them from the time that her father died. The important words here are, "the dispensation dated from..." It means the decision or the privilege took effect from the death of her father. It doesn't say when Sartoris actually said that Emily doesn't have to pay taxes.
The dispensation, the privilege, takes effect with the death of Miss Emily's father. So if Sartoris decides it two years after her father's death, then the town must return to her the taxes she paid for the two years since her father's death. Yes, this is strange. Why not say, "You don't have to pay taxes starting tomorrow?" Because Sartoris has a reason why doesn't have to pay taxes: it's because her father owed money to the town.
Is this the true reason? Well, if it were true, then why didn't Sartoris remit Emily's taxes immediately after her father's death, and not later? It doesn't make sense. Plus, the story tells us that remitting the taxes has nothing to do with Emily's father, that this is not the true reason:
"Only a man of Colonel Sartoris' generation and thought could have invented it, and only a woman could have believed it."
In other words: only someone as old as Sartoris could have made up this reason for Miss Emily not to pay taxes--that her father owed money to the town--and only a woman could be so naive and so foolish that she would believe it.
So immediately on the second page of the story we have this: Miss Emily doesn't have to pay taxes, and Colonel Sartoris gave a false reason for allowing her not to pay taxes.
Sure, Colonel Sartoris could be just letting Emily not pay taxes because she is poor. It says, "Not that Miss Emily would have accepted charity." Meaning, Miss Emily is too proud to accept gifts from other people. She would hate it if she saw that someone pitied her. For this reason, Colonel Sartoris has to disguise his real reason, which is pity, from her. But Emily is not the only poor woman in the town, is she? And it seems that all the other poor people have to pay taxes, don't they? What make Emily special? What did she do to get this favor?
And who gives her this favor? What kind of a man is Colonel Sartoris? Look at the very last lines of page 119 and the top of page 120--here you see what kind of a man Colonel Sartoris was. A man who hates blacks... therefore a man who would reward Emily for killing a Yankee, a white man from the North, which fought to free the blacks in the South.
3. Let's not forget the second time the remission of taxes is mentioned, on page 128. Here we find out for sure that Emily's gift or privilege comes after the death of Homer Barron: "She no longer went out at all... meanwhile her taxes had been remitted."
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Why her taxes were rimitted, that reason is important and I don't think WHEN it did it happen is important. That's, kind of, just small problem. We can understand whole story without it, I think.
ReplyDeleteAnd I still feel confused WHY she really kill H.B. She is modern person, mysterious person, and there is no feelings about Emily and narrator. So we can make variety reasons.
When I put together those modern love stories, I'm lost in thought that people can do such crazy thins with strong passion of love(or just strong emotions). Long time ago, people just depressed or kill themselves quietly when they rejected. But many things are different in modern age. Modereners are too confident, too extreme and too selfish! Actually, I'm not surprise if some person like Emliy really being near to me. Even in Korea, there are so many lunatics. Only hope is never meet a guy like Emily.
Her taxes were rimitted because she killd
ReplyDeleteH.B!! well He was yankee from north?
People knew about that but did mention anything but rimitting taxes of Emily.
It was possible for her not to pay the taxes that it was just after the Civil war.
ReplyDeleteBecause the rage and shame of people was the highest. Therefore they noticed H.B.'s death, didn't mention anything.
When I read Prof. Jerry's comment, I feel really confused. But I try to classify step by step.
ReplyDelete1. Why the writer mentioned about remmiting tax at the bottom of page 119 and at the middle of the story? Maybe that's because free tax is really important part of the story. And at the middle of the story, the writer may think that he have to reply it again, when it happens.
2. Why the mayor said Miss Emily not to pay taxes far after her father died? It's complicated. I can say that government system is so slow that the mayor have to rearrange the tax things in two years. But that's nonsense. Then because of HB's death? That could be the best answer, I can say.
3. Why only Miss Emily is previlege? There're lots of poor people whose taxes should be free. First, Miss Emily is higher class than those people. Look at her father. He was such an honorable man in the town. And because Miss Emily didn't want to receive something about welfare, the mayor may treat her as free taxes. BUT was it real 'treat' of the mayer to Miss Emily? That's just an excuse.
In sum, Miss Emily was an honorable person in the town. That may influenced free taxes. But she killed HB, an yankee who tried to free Negro whom the mayor hates. That's the main reason what makes the mayor determined to do that.