Rose For Emily

The day after her father's death, the women of the town went to give their condolences to Miss. Emily. To their surprise, Miss. Emily was "dressed as usual" and had "no trace of grief on her face (Perrine's 285)." Emily told the women that her father was not dead. Finally after three days of trying to hold on to her father, "she broke down, and they buried her father quickly (Perrine's 285)." The town's people tired to justify Miss. Emily's actions, by saying that she had nothing left, and was clinging to the one thing that had robbed her for so long they convinced themselves that she was not crazy.

According to Faulkner, “After her father’s death she went out very little; after her sweetheart went away, people hardly saw her at all” (805). Occurrences such as these are private instances that took place within Miss Emily’s life. They are very important instances that undoubtedly caused Miss Emily to shift to an isolated lifestyle. On the other hand, actions displayed by the townspeople provide a viewpoint of Miss Emily’s relationship with the public. “Arguably, the townspeople’s actions serve to protect Miss Emily’s privacy- by preserving her perceived gentility-as much as they effectively destroy it with their intrusive zeal” (Crystal 792). The actions of the townspeople fuel Miss Emily’s desire to remain isolated from everyone else in her

In addition to the impact of her family on her mental state, it is also through the relationship Miss Emily has with her community, that helps to foreshadow the fateful ending. It is through the words and actions of the community that this relationship is shown, such as how they even distance themselves from her. In the beginning of the story in Act I, Faulkner describes Miss Emily’s position in the town as “a sort of hereditary obligation”. Since the death of her father, the town is aware of the struggle she is having while being alone, so that is why they see her

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.

Emily MSD2: Townsman MSD3: Townswomen BP2 Plan TS: As an extension of Falkner’s use of multidimensional characterizations, Falkner uses symbolism in many ways during the tale in order to improve and express the power and longevity of social traditions. MSD1: Town itself is on the brink of newer modern technologies, roads, and homes—YET the town has maintained long-term respect and dignity for the traditional areas. MSD2: Townsfolk do not pressure her actions: do not question the poison, do not question the lack of mail-box, do not pressure her cleaning, NOR when she refuses her taxes.

Emily was kept confined from all that surrounded her. Her father had given the town folks a large amount of money which caused Emily and her father to feel superior to others. “Grierson’s held themselves a little too high for what they really were” (Faulkner). Emily’s attitude had developed as a stuck-up and stubborn girl and her father was to blame for this attitude. Emily was a normal

In the end, with her death, which is where the story begins, Miss Emily is the talk of the town. Not because people truly mourn her, but because people are curious about the life she had lived in secret, in her big house, for all those years. People pitied her, it was as had been left alone in the world and seemed to have wished it that way.

Miss Emily’s life was one of deep isolation and possible mental illness. The town’s people seemed to put her up on some sort of pedestal. Everyone in town was curious about her life, she hardly ever ventured out giving her a mysterious persona. The idea that Emily was some type of monument is perplexing since she didn’t interact with anyone other than her manservant.” People in our town, remembering how Old Lady Wyatt, her great-aunt, had gone completely crazy at last, believed the Griersons held themselves a little too high for what they really were.” (Norton, 806) Emily going to the drug store asking for poison, specifying arsenic and not furnishing a reason for it’s use was an example where she thought she was above everyone. Emily didn’t care about laws she just wanted what she wanted and people gave in because they pitied her. Eventually, you learn that her lover Homer Barron wouldn’t be one that the coroner would get out of the house like he was able to do with her father, which took three

Emily's father suppressed all of her inner desires. He kept her down to the point that she was not allowed to grow and change with the things around her. When “garages and cotton gins had encroached and obliterated…only Miss Emily's house was left, lifting its stubborn and coquettish decay above the cotton wagons and the gasoline pumps” (Rose 217). Even when he died, she was still unable to get accustom to the changes around her. The traditions that her and her father continued to participate in even when others stopped, were also a way that her father kept her under his thumb. The people of the town helped in

Miss Emily tried to keep the body of her father with her in her house. This signifies that she did not

She continually tries to avoid situations that make the ever evolving world seem closer. Although she does not want things to change one way readers can tell that times have changed is by her appearance. While her father is alive and all is well in the world she is described as “a slender figure in white in the background” which shows she is happy, healthy and active (311). Miss Emily is later described after her father dies as “ small, fat women in black, with a thin gold chain descending to her waist and vanishing into her belt” which shows her lack of activity and motivation as well as her state of grief (309).

“We remembered all of the young men her father had driven away” (Faulkner 316). We note that Miss Emily never married and was a recluse from the townspeople until the day she died. She was isolated from her town, abandoned by her father, and judgment fell upon her from every watchful eye of that small town.

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.

Falling in love can be dangerous; it causes some people to perform impulsive actions. In William Faulkner’s short story “A Rose for Emily,” Emily Grierson experiences a number of life changing moments. Her reactions to these moments leave readers with no choice but to question her mental state. Emily’s father had extremely high expectations for whom Emily could love. So when she got the chance, she fell in love with the first man who gives her attention. All the while, she was like a celebrity of her town: she had no privacy. Emily Grierson was the victim of a damaged mind due to the death of her harsh, austere father, unrequited love, and obnoxious neighbors, causing her to commit homicide. The Griersons were of a high social class. Emily lived with her controlling father. He limited the things she could do with extremes. Their family was portrayed as a “tableau” (part II, para. 12). They were a picture perfect family, which is why no man met the standards Emily’s father held. Mr. Grierson dismissed all the young men that attempted to date Miss Emily. When her father died, she became lonely. Emily’s father was the only man that had ever shown her love. She never got the chance to experience love from anyone else. She refused to believe he was 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” (part. II, para. 14). This reflects her mental state Burnett 2 deteriorating. She kept the

In “A Rose for Emily”, William Faulkner tells the story of an sad and lonely lady, stuck in her time. Because her father died, she never fully recovered from it and was not able to find herself. Emily’s house was in the past was considered elegant and was built on the best street in town in the 1870’s. Now the house is old and an unattractive building to the neighborhood. People in her town begin to bad mouth her because of her lost soul. Homer Barron, an employee of a construction company, begins to begins to date Emily. The townspeople do not seem ecstatic about this, because they think she is doing it out of being lonely and depressed since her father died. Later on, she