Previous
The townspeople
The “big, dark, ready” foreman of a construction company that arrives in Jefferson to pave the sidewalks, Homer is from the North but nonetheless becomes popular in town, a social drinker at the local Elks’ Club. His presence in Jefferson suggests the reunification of North and South after the Civil War, and he himself is an agent of progress and industrialization in a heretofore rigidly conservative community. Indeed, even Miss Emily falls for his charms, and the two become romantically involved with one another, riding together on Sundays in Homer’s “yellow-wheeled buggy” despite the townspeople’s judgmental gossip about his connection to the genteel Southern Miss Emily. However, Homer is “not a marrying man.” So, desperate to keep him with her, Miss Emily poisons Homer and keeps his corpse in her house, a ghastly husband indeed; it is evident that she lies next to and even embraces his rotting flesh.
Homer Barron Quotes in A Rose for Emily
The A Rose for Emily quotes below are all either spoken by Homer Barron or refer to Homer Barron. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Section 3 Quotes
At first we were glad that Miss Emily would have an interest, because the ladies all said, “Of course a Grierson would not think seriously of a Northerner, a day laborer.” But there were still others, older people, who said that even grief could not cause a real lady to forget noblesse oblige—without calling it noblesse oblige.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
This quote comes after the death of Miss Emily's father, when Miss Emily begins to take a romantic interest in Homer Barron. The division in Jefferson between the attitudes of the young and the old, the progressives and the conservatives, is complicated here. The younger people think it good that Miss Emily has a romantic interest, precisely because they don't think it is serious. The older people, those who fully experienced the South's defeat in the Civil War and its humiliations, know firsthand, however, that grief can override pride, and that Miss Emily may indeed be serious about Homer. "Noblesse Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eu
Section 5 Quotes
For a long time we just stood there, looking down at the profound and fleshless grin. The body had apparently once lain in the attitude of an embrace, but now the long sleep that outlasts love, that conquers even the grimace of love, had cuckolded him.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
This quote comes during Miss Emily's funeral. The townspeople politely wait for Miss Emily's corpse to be buried before they force their way into Miss Emily's room, and there they discover the corpse of Homer Barron, described here at length. The phrase "profound and fleshless grin" adopts the dark, chilling, grotesquely ironic tone and diction of Gothic novels, which Faulkner often alludes to in his work. Faulkner relies on these technical means here in order to express the townspeople's shock and horror at discovering what Miss Emily has so long repressed. Homer's corpse is also an image for all the Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. E
Get the entire A Rose for Emily LitChart as a printable PDF.
"My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." -Graham S.
Homer Barron Character Timeline in A Rose for Emily
The timeline below shows where the character Homer Barron appears in A Rose for Emily. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Section 2
...years before—two years after her father’s death, and shortly after her sweetheart (later identified as Homer Barron) had deserted her—in the matter of a bad smell issuing from her house. Miss...
(full context)
Section 3
...had contracted, arrived to pave the sidewalks in Jefferson, led by a big Yankee named Homer Barron, who came to know everybody in town. “Whenever you heard a lot of laughing...
(full context)
...laborer from the North. Some older people, however, thought that Emily might be serious about Homer out of financial need. “Poor Emily,” they said, and they agreed that her kin should...
(full context)
Section 4
...to kill herself with the arsenic, and agreed it was for the best, especially because Homer had once confided in some of the men in town over drinks at the Elks’...
(full context)
...Emily. Nothing changed at first, but soon the townspeople came to believe that she and Homer were to be married—especially after she went to the jeweler’s and ordered a man’s toilet...
(full context)
The townspeople were not surprised when Homer Barron disappeared from Jefferson. They were disappointed that his departure was preceded by no public...
(full context)
Section 5
...a bridal.” On a table, they saw the man’s toilet Miss Emily had ordered for Homer Barron, and the articles of men’s clothing. In the bed lay Homer’s rotted corpse, which...
(full context)
