The plot, or story line, of William Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily" revolves around the spinster Miss Emily Grierson and her life in the fictional Mississippi town of Jefferson. Faulkner's story does not follow a normal linear progression, but to summarize: Emily is the daughter of a well-to-do Southern gentleman who keeps a tight rein on her during her younger years. After her father dies, the single, 30-something Emily meets Homer Barron, a northern foreman who is supervising road work in the town. Soon, Emily and Homer are seen about town together and the locals assume that they will soon marry. But Homer suddenly disappears, and the townspeople believe that the romance has ended. Shortly after, a terrible smell pervades the Grierson property, but neighbors believe it is only a dead rat. Emily never marries, becomes the subject of even more gossip over the years, and finally dies at the age of 74. When authorities check out her house after her death, an upstairs bedroom is found with a rotting corpse in the bed--and a single grey hair on the pillow next to it. It is the body of Homer, and the hair belongs to Emily, who has apparently been sharing the bed with the corpse for decades.
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