Emily Grierson Isolation

In “A Rose for Emily," by William Faulkner, the main character Emily Grierson is stuck living in the past within the isolated reality that she’s been forced into and that she herself created. Throughout the story, a major theme, (meaning what the story is about) is Emily’s resistance to change which leads to isolation. This Faulkner classic shows us how Emily became isolated because of her families, community and tradition.

Desperation for love arising from detachment can lead to extreme measures and destructive actions as exhibited by the tumultuous relationships of Miss Emily in William Faulkner's “A Rose for Emily” (rpt. in Thomas R. Arp and Greg Johnson, Perrine's Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense, 9th ed. [Boston: Wadsworth, 2006] 556). Miss Emily is confined from society for the majority of her life by her father, so after he has died, she longs for relations that ironically her longing destroys. The despondency and obsession exuded throughout the story portray the predicament at hand.

In the short story “A Rose for Emily” written by William Faulkner, Emily, the protagonist, is shown as someone who’s life is falling apart and brought down by society. Emily in this story could be described as a victim to society and her father. Emily Grierson’s confinement, loss of her father and Homer, and constant criticism caused her, her insanity.

In “A Rose for Emily,” Faulkner employs a narrator to describe Emily Grierson, a recently deceased old woman. Apart from her manservant, she does not interact with others, save for a short period of time in

In “A Rose for Emily” Miss Emily Grierson live a life of quiet turmoil. Her entire life has revolved around an inexplicable loneliness mostly characterized by the harsh abandonment of death. The most vital imagery utilized by Faulkner demonstrates Miss Emily’s mental condition. She, being self-improsened within the confines of her home, is the human embodiment of her house; Faulkner describes it as “... stubborn an coquettish decay above the cotton wagons and the gasoline pumps--an eyesore among eyesores.” (Faulkner 308).

William Faulkner writes “A Rose for Emily”, which is a tale about the peculiar events in a small town in Mississippi. The protagonist, Emily Grierson, is an eccentric lady that encounters tragedies throughout her life. Unexpectedly, she meets Homer Barron whom she considers the love of her life. In this tragic love story, Faulkner reveals the true identities of these individuals. The main character, Emily Grierson, in the story “A Rose for Emily”, is portrayed as a dynamic character, an anti-hero in the story, and a mysterious citizen in the small town of Jefferson.

The death Miss Emily’s father, as one of the most influential figures in her life, caused her to have a serious mental break. He died of an unknown cause and the townspeople were ready to help his daughter through this tough time. When they arrived, they found her clothed as normal with an even temperament. In fact “she told them that her father was not dead. She did that for three days, with the ministers calling on her, and the doctors, trying to persuade her to let them dispose of the body.” (Chapter 2) Having been attached to this man for her entire life, Miss Emily sees no other way to continue so she truly believes he is still alive. She is unable to deal with the idea that he has abandoned her and left her with no one to spend her days with other than the manservant. The doctors and ministers end up having to take the body away after three days and disposing of it. After that “she was sick for a long time. When we saw her again, her hair was cut short, making her look like a girl, with a vague resemblance to those angels in colored church windows – sort of tragic and serene.”

In “A Rose for Emily,” Emily Grierson, referred to as Miss Emily throughout the story, is the main character of 'A Rose for Emily'. Emily used to live with her father and servants, in a big decorated house. Emily was not able to develop any real relationship with anyone else, but it was like her world revolved around her father. When her father passed away, it was a devastating loss for Miss Emily. Instead of going on with her life, her life halted after death of her father. Miss Emily found love in a guy named Homer Barron, who came as a contractor for paving the sidewalks in town. The passed passage of time creates a tension in her life. At first she cannot accept the death of her father. After that she creates tension in the community by refusing to pay the taxes. When Emily proposed Homer Barron

Through the townspeople, it is revealed that Emily’s father, Mr. Grierson, controls every aspect of her life as a young woman. He guards Emily like a dog from suitors, cooping her up at home as a way to preserve her from the outside world. Mr. Grierson is Emily’s only close point of contact in her early life, and it is his possessive behaviour and refusal to let her interact with others that serves as the root of Emily’s social maladjustment. The townspeople recognize the oddness of this relationship, thinking “of them as a tableau, Miss Emily a slender figure in white in the background… her [father’s] back to her and clutching a horse whip” (Discovering Literature, p.143). While Emily is seen as small and helpless, her

The pursuit of love changes people. While pursuing love, one discovers more about oneself than in most life situations. William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” presents Miss Emily Grierson’s life through the voice of a narrator, who portrays the collective conscience of the entire town. The town’s view emerges through the narrator’s descriptions of Miss Emily’s past and ongoing events. The journey of Miss Emily’s love life reveals how her past caused her to kill Homer Barron to fulfill her desires.

In 1930 William Faulkner published his very first story, “A Rose for Emily.” The story emerges with the funeral of Emily Grierson and discloses the story out of sequence; Faulkner brings into play an anonymous first-person narrator thought to be the representation of Grierson’s municipality. Miss Emily Grierson’s life was read to be controlled by her father and all his restrictions. Grierson was raised through her life with the thought that no man was adequate for her. Stuck in her old ways, Grierson continued with the Old South’s traditions once her father had passed. Awhile following her father’s death, Emily aims to put the longing for love to a stop and allows Homer Barron to enter her life. Faulkner portrays the literary movement of Modernism utilizing allegory through the post-bellum South after the American Civil War. In the short story “A Rose Emily,” William Faulkner uses a series of symbols to illustrate the prominent theme of the resistance of the refinement of life around Miss Emily.

In William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily,” the town takes on the collective role of the narrator and describes the events that precede the death of Emily Grierson, a member of the town who was known as “a tradition, a duty, a care; a sort of hereditary obligation…” (134). As the story progresses, many of Emily’s peculiar behaviors are revealed and her past is discussed in preface to one of her last acts which involves her murder of Homer Barron. When the story ends with members of the town finding “a long strand of iron-gray hair” (143) on the pillow next to Homer Barron’s rotting corpse, readers are left without an explanation as to why Emily would kill Homer and sleep with his dead body. This perplexing question can be explained through Emily’s relationship with her overprotective father who prevented her from learning how to develop healthy relationships which ultimately led to a fear of abandonment.

In William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” the story is revolved around the character Emily Grierson. The story is told by the townspeople where Emily lives. These people are attending her funeral and pitching in memories and tales they remember from Emily’s life. It is through the collective voices and opinions of the crowd that the reader is able to interpret Emily’s struggles. With Emily Grierson’s choices the reader can tell that she is a dependant woman, with psychotic tendencies, and does not take the thought of change and rejection lightly.

The decline of Emily’s sanity began when her father died. She refused to believe that her father passed and she rejected the thought of isolation. “She told them that her father was not dead. She did that for three days, with the ministers calling on her, and the doctors trying to persuade her to dispose of the body.” Emily was never in denial that her father passed, she refused to experience the isolation that would soon retain her soul and dwindle her chances of finding love again. The indication of her recognition that she will be alone is evident when she refused to dispose of her father’s body. Although his soul is no longer a part of her life, the satisfaction of him physically being near her brings her a sense of relief and comfort.

“A Rose for Emily” is a Southern Gothic short story written by William Faulkner. The main character, Miss Emily Grierson, has a story and personality that can be analyzed from many different viewpoints. Focusing more on the psychological perspective, Miss Emily is very erratic and idiosyncratic in behavior. She isolates herself in her home and locks up her house to prevent anyone from coming in. Her home hides many secrets, but the one that stands out the most is the corpse of Homer Barron, Miss Emily’s lover. For years, Miss Emily has lived and slept with the corpse, which was unknown for many years by all the townspeople. After this is discovered, Miss Emily’s mental health and stability became the main topic of interest to both the townspeople and the readers of this story.