A Rose for Emily
by William Faulkner

A Rose for Emily: Style 1 key example

Section 5
Explanation and Analysis:

What makes "A Rose for Emily" unique is that while many of its events seem fairly ordinary, they accumulate to form an uncanny, dark, and tragic story. One reason is because the story is told in a nonlinear fashion, in first person peripheral perspective. The narrator is a townsperson retelling Emily's story from their perspective. The narrator's limited perspective, as well as the story's non-chronological order, builds suspense and makes the reader wonder what is being left unsaid.