The effectiveness of this point of view can be valued by imagining what the story would be if some of it, at least, were told from Emily's point of view, or maybe from that of Homer, Toby, or one of the town elders. While the point of view is collective, it is the narrator who makes it so by the insistence on "we," making me wonder at times just how many people in that town would buy into the generous view that "we" offers. I doubt if some of the ladies of the town would speak so sympathetically of Emily, for given the gender roles even in the traditions of the post-civil war south contemporary to the narrative voice, if a Jefferson lady saw that body in Emily's bed, the sight would forever color her attitude toward the rather uppity Miss Emily.
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