"A Rose for Emily" ~by William Faulkner

(#3)
Throughout the story, there are clues and hints that all lead toward the conclusion of the story. Small details woven throughout all add together to foreshadow the eventual ending. Emily stops going out into the town and seeing people. She rarely gets visitors, and no one ever enters the house with the exception of her servant and Homer Barron. Then, her house begins to smell and the neighbors complain. Her father died, and she refused to accept it; she denied it until the townspeople almost "had to resort to law and force" (p. 285). One day, she went out and bought arsenic. Many of the townspeople believed this was to kill herself; however, she never used it for that. Emily went "to the jeweler's and ordered a man's toilet set in silver with the letters H.B." (p. 287). She also bought a complete outfit of men's clothing including a nightshirt. After that, Homer Barron was never seen again. These many little details, when all put together, predict the final conclusion to the story. They allow for the reader to anticipate the ending if they pay attention to the foreshadowing details.