Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[jays]

Please explain "public blowing off" in the following (A Rose for Emily by Wiilam Faulkner)
--- the following ---
So we were not surprised when Homer Barron--the streets had been finished some time since--was gone. We were a little disappointed that there was not a public blowing-off, but we believed that he had gone on to prepare for Miss Emily's coming, or to give her a chance to get rid of the cousins.

[Anuradha Chepur]

Professor A V Ashok (Central Institute of English and Foreign Languages (CIEFL), Hyderabad) is one expert at Faulkner. Try reaching him at [email protected] if you want to.

I am not sure whether this email address is active now.

[LucentShade]

The expression, "to blow (somebody) off" means to reject them or refuse to speak to them. A public blowing-off would be some kind of rejection in front or other people.