The way that Faulkner presents the character of Homer Barron reveals his feelings about the North: they are brash invaders, barging into the genteel South, pushing aside time honored traditions with their new-found power, taking control.
"The little boys would follow in groups to hear him cuss the riggers, and the riggers singing in time to the rise and fall of picks. Pretty soon he knew everybody in town. Whenever you heard a lot of laughing anywhere about the square, Homer Barron would be in the center of the group." (Faulkner)
The presence of the Yankee in the story is a direct insult to the members of the town. Not only is he an outsider, but he is a laborer. The fact that he appears to be courting Miss Emily is a scandalous act. He is unacceptable, not only a Yankee, but below Miss Emily socially.
However, the author allows the Southern heroine to get the upperhand on the uncooperative Yankee. When she discovers that he would not marry her, because he preferred men, she made sure he would never leave her.
So, effectively, Faulkner allows the South to win a small victory through the actions of Miss Emily. She gets the best of Homer Barron the Yankee, even though the town does not know that he never left her, they assume he left town, because they never see him again.
Miss Emily as depicted by Faulkner as a symbol of the Old South, survives, while the Northener, Homer Barron is defeated.
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