Plot.

Though the story is short, the author still divides it into 5 sections, as the actions take place not in the accepted, traditional way – non-linear.  

The first section starts with the description of Emily’s funeral to which came men (to look at the “fallen monument”) and women (mostly of curiosity). The author describes Emilly’s house which adds to the overall understanding of her character. Colonel Sartoris allowed Ms. Emily not to pay taxes (she wouldn’t have accepted such a privilege, as she had too much self-dignity to accept alms from anybody), so that when the new authorities came and tried to persuade her to do so, she completely refused.  

The second section tells us about Ms. Emily’s father – before he died he had used to turn off all the propositions from young men for his daughter’s heart. Consequently, Emily was still single in her 30^th. When her father died, she refused to give up his body for 3 days. There developed a disgusting odor which people couldn’t stand, so that they sneaked in her apartment and sprinkled lime. 

The 3d section describes the loneliness that a woman had to go through after her loss. The town is being renovated and Homer Barron gets the job. They start an affair that perturbs and shocks the folks of the town: the man isn’t of her social niche and denounces her family’s dignity. Another episode from the section is that of bying some poison in the drug store. Emily claims for arsenic, but refuses to give explanation as the reason of her intentional purchase (as is required by law) and, consequently she gets poison “for rats”.

In the 4^th section Emily buys silwerware and other things with homer’s initials, and everybody think that they are going to marry, though Homer is out of town/ He is believed to avoid her intrusive relatives or just preparing to move with Emily to the North. After the cousin’s departure Barron visits Emily and after that he’s never seen again. At the age of 40 Emily gives up her china painting lessons and the doors of her hose stay closed for decades, until her death at the age of 74. 

Section 5 describes what happened after the funeral^ the room in the Ms. Grierson’s house was opened (which had always been a mystery). The dead body of Homer Barron laid on the bad and a strand of grey hair was noticed on the pillow next to him.