Is there any humor in the story "A Rose for Emily" or is it mainly grimly?

The Glossary of Literary Terms defines humor as:

The quality of a literary or informative work that makes the character/and or situations seem funny, amusing or ludicrous. 

A "quality" is a standard of something measured against something else. In turn, a standard is assigned the value that is desired by whoever is determining it.

This essentially means that it is up to you, and the contextual or personal connections that you make as you read, what determines whether something is "funny," "amusing," or "ludicrous."

Note that something humorous does not have to fit all three of these variables. Hence, to find something amusing, even to a minor degree, implies eliciting humor. 

This being said, there are several things in the story "A Rose for Emily" that are described in ways that befit any of the three descriptors just mentioned. 

1. That nosey narrator

Take, for example, the fact that the narrator is not a narrator per se, but the combination of the voices of the townsfolk.  To a reader who has been raised in a small town or county, such as Emily's Jefferson country, the compilation of observations made by the townsfolk regarding Emily may seem amusing.

It is interesting to observe how people who grow up and live close together acquire a collective identity that leads them to want to look out for "their own."

In "A Rose for Emily" this townsfolk collective of voices knows everything that goes on it he lives of the Grierson's: They know that aunt Wyatt went crazy, that Emily's family thought they were better than everyone else, that there were aunts in Alabama no different than Old Man Grierson, that Old Man Grierson was territorial with Emily, and every kind of information that can only be known when told from person to person.

It is, indeed, amusing (it does not have to be "funny" to be humorous) to see how these dynamics occur. 

2. A modern-day slave?

Another example of humor may experienced by a reader who finds it ludicrous that Emily has managed to keep the equivalent of a modern-day slave serving in her household, up to the day when she died. How in the world do you get to that point in servitude, whether it is a fictional story or not? It may elicit a sarcastic chuckle to even think of this being plausible. Then again, it may come to a shock to other readers to find out that the type of relationship between Tobe and Emily was, actually, possible. 

3. No taxes

Finally, there is the humor that comes from something being actually funny. This quality is also open to interpretation, temperament, and personal connection. Some readers may find it funny that Emily did not flinch and said, plainly and simply, that she isn't paying any taxes in Jefferson country. To someone who has been audited by the Internal Revue Service (IRS), or someone who has been overtaxed in this country, those words from Emily surely would have caused humor. 

4. Dark humor

Let's not forget also another type of humor, not mentioned yet, which is "dark humor."  This one is described by The Free Dictionary as 

...the juxtaposition of morbid and farcical elements (in writing or drama) to give a disturbing effect...

Now, think about this as you read the story "A Rose for Emily." Aren't there enough elements of dark humor, particularly in situations that are, both, ludicrous and amusing (interesting)? Doesn't the end of the story cause, indeed, a very disturbing reaction?

Think about: 

• Emily, a traditional Southern girl from a haughty family, selecting none other than Homer Barron, a loud, brash Yankee, as her lover. 


• Emily's refusal to give up the body of her father even days after he died (she has a penchant for the dead, apparently). 


• Emily's secret: She lived as a married woman for decades, with the decaying corpse of Homer Barron, whom she presumably killed herself by poisoning him. 


• The entire town had lived by Emily without even knowing that this was going on until the moment that she died and the room was finally opened. 

Aren't these amusing things? They are, indeed, dark and morbid, but nevertheless it is impossible to deny that they are interesting tidbits of life to look into, and ask many, many questions. 

Therefore, there is plenty of humor in the story "A Rose for Emily." Humor does not have to be funny. It simply has to induce amusement, interest, and even curiosity.