A Rose for Emily

"As they recrossed the lawn, a window that had been dark was lighted and Miss Emily sat in it, the light behind her, and her upper right torso motionless as that of an idol. (Faulkner 31)  This sentence caught me because it was the first overtones of something a bit sinister.  It is during that part of the story when they talk about the smell, and as the men are sneaking away, here in a window sits Miss Emily.  In my head it is a scene as you might see in one of the "Psycho" movies.  Faulkner's description is vivid, and you get that chill as you imagine her in that window, lighted from behind.  Later in the book he uses some similar imagery; "Now and then we would see her in one of the downstairs windows-she had evidently shut up the top floor of the house-like the carven torso of an idol in a niche, looking or not looking at us, we could never tell which." (Faulkner 34)  Once again Faulkner describes her menacing presence at the window, using that same imagery of an idol.  This time it is used right before the reveal, which is not a total reveal because all we know is a vague understanding of what happened, no details and none of the why's of the event.  The narrative style Faulkner uses in the story allows you to follow the story, in jags and spurts, and has overtones of insanity but with none of the suspense devices common in other novels, but the sinister element is woven in, almost unnoticed until the reveal.