This is a question that is never fully answered by William
Faulkner in his macabre Southern gothic short story, "A Rose for Emily." We can only
assume that she killed Homer because he had decided to leave town and not marry Emily.
Homer was her last, best chance at matrimony, and when she discovered that he had no
intention of marrying her, she decided to keep him around anyway. Emily had a history of
mental illness in her family, and she had already held on to one body in her house--her
father's. She first refused to admit that her father was dead, refusing to give up his
corpse after three days (in Southern heat), until a group of citizens persuaded her to
give her father up, and "they buried her father
quickly."
Homer received a similar fate, and it is possible
that Miss Emily's mental condition would not allow her to recognize that he was dead. By
killing Homer and secretly keeping his body in the upstairs bedroom, she could still
enjoy his company--although in deathly silence--for the rest of her life. In her mind,
Homer had never left her at all.
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