The setting’s customs exhibit examples of racism. Yoknapatawpha County takes place in a time with different vocabulary and beliefs than modern day. When Miss. Emily’s house produces a smell, Judge Stevens decides that it is “‘probably just a snake or a rat that nigger of hers killed’” (Beers and Odell 723). Furthermore, the story challenges the use of vocabulary that today we identify as racist. “No Negro woman should appear on the streets without an apron” helps prove that women were treated differently (Beers and Odell). The racism stays evident by the use of the word “Negro,” and it shows that a colored woman can not do something because the color of her skin. Thomas Dilworth reveals, “a relationship between a white lady and a black man
