Write a introductory paragraph that ends in a thesis sentence and a closing paragraph about the relationship of isolation and community in "A Rose for Emily."

In "A Rose for Emily," by William Faulkner, isolationism and community are both prominent themes. From the very beginning of the story, it is clear that Miss Emily is isolated from the rest of the community. The narrator states that "our whole town" went to Miss Emily's funeral when she died. No one had been inside her house for ten years. While the narrator is the entire town, a collective "we," Miss Emily stands alone. This is emphasized in several ways, including the way the narration describes different events in an us-versus-her manner. Another is how the town watches, judges, and interferes with the relationship between Miss Emily and Homer. Her home, which stands alone on a once select street, without updates, is symbolic of Miss Emily's standing as the last icon of a time gone by. The separation between the town, a community represented by the narrator, and Miss Emily, an isolated individual, is emphasized as the town comments, judges, and manipulates Miss Emily's life while she stands alone as a "monument" to the town's past.