time and progression. In the first section, Faulkner takes us back to the time when Miss Emily refused to pay her taxes. She believes that just because Colonel Sartoris remitted her taxes in 1894, that she is exempt from paying them even years later. The town changes, its people change, yet Miss Emily has put a halt on time. In her mind, the Colonel is still alive even though he is not. When the deputation waits upon her, we get a glimpse of her decaying house. "It smelled of dust and disuseIt was furnished in heavy, leather covered furniturethe leather was cracked.On a tarnished gilt easel before the fireplace stood a crayon portrait of Miss Emily's father." The description of Miss Emily's house is very haunting. There is no life or motion in this house. Everything appears to be decaying, just as Miss Emily herself. The picture of her father is just another symbol of immobility and no sense of time. When he died, Miss Emily refused to acknowledge his death. She stopped time, at least in her mind. From this point, Faulkner makes a smooth transition to a period of thirty years ago, when Miss Emily "vanquished their fathers about the smell." The plot continues in the backward direction, demonstrating Miss Emily's lack of understanding of time. A smell develops in Miss Emily's house, which is another sign of decay and death. Miss Emily is oblivious to the smell, while it continues to bother the neighbors. This town's people are intimidated by Miss Emily, and have to squeeze lime juice on her lawn in secrecy. They are afraid to confront her, just as the next generation is afraid to confront her about the taxes. Her strong presence is enough for her to surpass the law.The scrambling of time throughout the story is a great demonstration of the scrambling of time in Miss Emily's mind and in her house. As the town changes and progresses, grows and modernizes, Miss Emily's "stubborn and coquettish" house remains the same. Perhaps if the story...
