What is the effect of the final paragraph? How does it change the reader's attitude toward Emily and her fate?
"Then we noticed that in the second pillow was the indentation of a head." The entirety of the short story brought the reader feelings of pity toward Emily. She "fell ill in the house filled with dust and shadows, with only a dodering Negro man to wait on her." Poor Emily had no one to love her through the end of her life. She was lonely and refused to talk with anyone. She was the talking point of the town! Her house stood out among the modern culture! How could this happen to poor Emily? Then, the final paragraph turns our pity into gross denial of our pity for her. How could she be laying in bed with a corpse? This woman was truly messed up. The author saved all the grotesque details for one little ending paragraph to slam us with strong emotions. Quite an entertaining and effective end to a short story.
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