A Rose for Emily

Did anyone feel pity or compassion for Emily in "A Rose for Emily"?

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Yes, when Emily got to a certain age and remained unmarried, some of the townspeople began to feel sorry for her. Especially after some concerned men approached the house to do something about the smell that permeated the area.

"..... four men crossed Miss Emily's lawn and slunk about the house like burglars, sniffing along the base of the brickwork and at the cellar openings while one of them performed a regular sowing motion with his hand out of a sack slung from his shoulder. They broke open the cellar door and sprinkled lime there, and in all the outbuildings. As they recrossed the lawn, a window that had been dark was lighted and Miss Emily sat in it, the light behind her, and her upright torso motionless as that of an idol. They crept quietly across the lawn and into the shadow of the locusts that lined the street. After a week or two the smell went away.

That was when people had begun to feel really sorry for her.

Source(s)

A Rose for Miss Emily