Freytags Pyramid in a Rose for Emily - 723 Words

Freytag’s Pyramid in A Rose for Emily Though a non-linear narrative, Faulkner’s A Rose for Emily fits well into the dramatic structure outlined in Freytag’s Pyramid. Exposition is centered around the death of the eponymous character, Emily Grierson, and details her history in the town of Jefferson. Moving backward in time, a deal between Emily and a former mayor, Colonel Sartoris, is discussed, in which Emily is remitted of all taxes due to a loan Emily’s father made to the town before his death. This expository information allows the reader to form a more substantive picture of Emily before the narrative actually begins. Faulkner establishes the tone of the story as cryptic and elliptical. Emily is someone who can only be known†¦show more content†¦Part four of the story represents falling action, as with the purchase of the arsenic the fate of Homer Barron has been settled. That the arrival of Emily’s family, or â€Å"kin† as Faulkner refers to them, is merely brushed upon in the vaguest terms serves as evidence- the focus of the story is elsewhere. All that is left here is for the story to unravel into the denouement, which comes of course with the discovery of her supposed husband’s corpse. Here, Faulkner pulls back the curtain and allows the reader to briefly glimpse some of the mystery behind Emily, and by simply suggesting at one perversion, he hints at a whole host of other strange activities. Thus the story is concluded not by solving the mystery, but rather by increasing its lurid allure. In a story, such as A Rose for Emily, which is as much about ambience as it is about creating drama, a small action can carry great weight. Emily’s very presence, â€Å"dear, inescapable, impervious, tranquil, and perverse,† shocks the small town of Jefferson out of entropy and into the life of narrative. Thus, though the story is nominally propelled along by curiosity over a strange odor emanating from her house, it is Emily he rself in the end that sustains the interest of the reader. Though Freytag’s Pyramid is an excellent guide for distilling dramatic structure from an otherwise elusive narrative, its application is limited. While the model