"Scandal In Bohemia"

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At any given time or place someone has been the subject of ridicule. With that whispering comes the "we". No one person is to blame for the rumors. Everyone takes his or her turn saying something. Whether it is his or her own thoughts and feelings or someone else's, this way when the subject finally hears what everyone is saying the subject cannot trace he source. The use of the "we" narration and the effects it creates are the guidelines of pain and anguish in that time, for "A Rose for Emily" tells the truth on just how bad "we" can become.

In "A Rose for Emily" Emily is the subject everyone talks about for many years. There is not one person alone that would confront Emily or even her father for they were the richest people in that town. This leads to gossip all the time on subjects that were not even true, but it gave the "we" something to talk about to others.

The entire town talked about the family in some form or another, whether it was about the father or Emily her self that the "we" would speak of. When Emily's father died, the next day whispering came into effect and never really stopped until Emily gave the people something else to talk about. (http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/~daniel/amlit/reader/south/rodriguezerose.html) At first, Emily stayed home not going out for anything, not even answering someone's calling upon her to talk not even mail. She slumped into a very dark mourning period with this the people began to talk about what is to become of her. Emily walked around her house and only the shadows would be seen on the pulled shades. Then Emily ventured out to by poison, the "we" believed it would be used to take her own life for she had nothing really to live for. Until Emily met a man that would change her life forever, he came and swept Emily right off her feet. They would be seen taking carriage rides together, which was not proper courtship for a lady of her stature but they did it anyway not caring what people thought of them. After a long time, people thought they would be married, however, this man could not be tied to any one person for any length of time. The "we" found this out and proceeded to talk again on a new subject, Emily's insanity for she had purchased a large amount of things for a man, a man that would not stay.

Emily found this out and she went right back into that dark slump that she was in when her father died. (http://www.pocheplantation.com/) Only this time the "we" stayed away from the manor for the gossip was much more juicy this way because the only thing different this time around was Emily would teach the young ladies how to paint porcelain. The ladies would come out with stories that feed the militia just enough to keep them going till the man arrived back for some more of Emily. This time she lost it completely.

The "we" noticed a few days after the man arrived a strange smell coming form the house and they begged Emily to do something about the smell, she refused. So one night a group of people went around Emily's home and vandalized her manor by spreading lemon powder to absorb the smell and eventually it did the trick. Only years later the "we" really found out the smell was the man's decomposing body in the upstairs bedroom. (http://www.monmouthplantation.com/) The "we" in this case keep Emily from ever having anyone to talk to abut anything. For she feared if anyone beside herself knew the truth she would lose everything and the "we" would do anything to take her away from the only thing she ever knew. The "we" tormented her mentally with all the talk that she overheard next to the manor drove her crazy. The gossip drove her so insane she felt she had to kill the only man who she ever thought about loving and marring she had to keep him close to her at all times for if she did not than he might run away and the gossip would continue.