A Character Analysis of William Faulkner's "A Rose For Emily"

In William Faulkner’s short story “A Rose For Emily” he had described Emily using five adjectives. These five adjectives were identified in Part IV of his story. “Thus she passed from generation to generation – dear, inescapable, impervious, tranquil, and perverse.”(80) Alice Hall Petry makes note of Terry Heller’s analysis that “only four” of the adjectives are used by the time we get to that statement and that each adjective coincides with each Part of the story in the order that they appear. (52-53) Petry also makes note to a few that have pondered the reason for Faulkner’s placement of this passage in Part IV and sums it up to be Faulkner’s way of foreshadowing. (52)
In Part I, Faulkner described Emily to be “dear.” The word “dear” can have two meanings in this sense. Petry believes Faulkner had meant “dear” to mean “sweet or cherished” in her article. (53) “On a tarnished easel before the fireplace stood a crayon portrait of Miss ...