The Innocence Of Emily In William Faulkner's A Rose For Emily

In William Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily," Emily becomes a minor legend during her lifetime. After her death, when her secret is revealed, hers becomes a story that no one can forget. "A Rose for Emily" is the story of the old maid who fell in love with a northerner, but resisted being jilted once too often. And only after her death, "When the curious towns people were able to enter her house at last, did they discover that she had kept her dead lover in the bed where she had killed him after their last embrace." (Kazin 162) . "In her bedroom, Emily and the dead Homer have remained together as though not even death could separate them."(Kazin 162) . Even though her lover had

"A Rose for Emily" is a fictional short story written by 1949 Nobel Prize winner William Faulkner. Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily" is about an aristocratic woman who lived a very secretive and unusual life. Miss Emily had always been very sheltered by her father. He was the only man in her life and after his death, her behavior became even more unnatural. However her father's death cannot be seen as the only cause of Miss Emily's insanity. Miss Emily's behavior was also influenced by her own expectations of herself, the townspeople's lack of authority over her, and her neighbor's infatuation with her.

William Faulkner once said, The article describes the fate of a southern town after the American Civil War. As the patriarch of the family, Emily's father leaned heavily to maintain the rank and dignity so he drove all the courtship to love Emily and deprived her of her right to happiness. After the death of her father, Emily fell in love with a foreman northerner that was building the railway for the town. But Emily still did not get rid of the shackles of family dignity and her father's influence on her approach. When she found that Homer Barron had no intention to marry her, she poisoned him with arsenic. Since then, Emily closed herself in the old house, and lived with his dead father for 40 years, until she died. The town residents found the secret at the funeral of Emily. William Faulkner is a pivotal figure in the history of American literature, known as the head of the Southern Renaissance and the leader of the Southern literature. "A Rose for Emily" is Faulkner's most classic short story. In this novel, Faulkner used a symbolic, like rose, Emily and the shadow of father, to reveal the contradictions and conflicts between the American old-age cultural minds and the northern industrial civilization after the civil war. He shaped a fallen southern aristocratic lady “Emily “in the tragedy of personal and social, realistic and traditional tragedy.

“Alive, Miss Emily had been a tradition, a duty, and a care; a sort of hereditary obligation upon the town” (Faulkner 1). Emily, a member of the town’s elite class, relied upon her father when growing up and after his death, she refused to pay her taxes, stating that her father contributed much to society. But it was evident that she didn’t pay them because of a lack of maturity - financially and socially. When she was younger she pushes herself onto Homer Barron, a Northerner with no interest in marriage. Throughout the story, Emily is conflicted over societal change, and clings to her privileged manner even after finding herself in poverty. Yet, she becomes involved with a man from a lower social class, and a Northerner as well - hinting that he has different beliefs and values. The townspeople, however, believe the relationship it too modern when there is a possibility they are having physical relations despite not being serious about marriage. The community’s inability to commit to progress, contribute to the confused Emily’s decision. In A Rose for Emily, Faulkner uses the symbolism of Emily’s house and her hair to demonstrate her emotional instability and physical deterioration, illustrating the outcome of his story.

By examining Miss Emily’s behavior and her social relationships, it is possible to diagnose Miss Emily with mental illnesses: PTSD and schizophrenia. Miss Emily Grierson, the main character in “A Rose for Emily,” written by William Faulkner, is a strange character. Miss Emily’s unpredictable and idiosyncratic behavior is bizarre, and the reader, like the townspeople in the story, was left wondering how to explain the fact that Miss Emily has spent years living and sleeping with the corpse of Homer Barron. On page 772, the whole town went to Miss Emily’s funeral when she died. “The men through a sort of respectful affection for a fallen monument, the women mostly out of curiosity to see the inside of her house, which no one save an old manservant--a

In William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily,” the reader enters the early 1900’s, following the life and death of Emily Grierson through the eyes of the townspeople. People in the town of Jefferson thought of Miss Emily as a tradition and a duty that was passed on from the older generation (323). The townspeople thought that she would not hurt a fly, but they had not known what she had done until after her death. The decayed body of Homer Barron was found in one of the upstairs bedrooms, with a strand of grayed hair beside him (327). First degree murder, as stated by the group Thomson Reuters, “is defined as an unlawful killing that is both willful and premeditated” (FindLaw). Emily Grierson is guilty of first degree murder because she willfully bought the arsenic, her abandonment issues caused the murder to be premeditated, and she confessed to the Baptist minister what she was going to do with Homer.

In William Faulkner's A Rose For Emily there is more than enough evidence to determine that Miss Emily is mentally ill. Most of the clues and hints are subtle, but when they are all pieced together the puzzle becomes clear. Not saying it is clear as too what Miss Emily was suffering from, the only way to know that for certain would be if the author or narrator told us in the text. We can conclude, however, she was suffering from some form of mental illness. Miss Emily was seen as a recluse and odd, but what no one in the town knew was that she couldn't help it there was more going on with her then people could see.

It’d also contradict the whole point of the story which is to highlight the effect of gossip. Faulkner also uses an objective point of view to create a suspenseful tone and convey the theme. For example, when Miss Emily goes to the town’s druggist for poison, they exchange dialogue on which one would be the best and in result Miss Emily asks for arsenic. The druggists then replies, “Why, of course, if that’s what you want. But the law requires you to tell what you are going to use it for”(Faulkner) to which then Miss Emily just stares at him without responding, causing the druggist to stop questioning her and package up the poison. With this point of view, “ readers are placed in the position of spectators...they see what the characters do and hear what they say but must infer what they think or feel…” (Perrine). The druggist refraining from asking anymore questions shows that he felt uneasy about the situation and thought it was best to just do what she requested. This could be supported by the fact he wrote “For rats” on the package. This is what acts as a catalyst for the suspenseful tone. Miss Emily refusing to tell what she needs the arsenic for implies that she has malicious intentions, which builds up suspense and curiosity for the reader. The different point of views also help convey the overall theme of the story; the suppression of a person can cause them to break. The townspeople are able to see her father’s ways as hurtful for Miss

William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” is a very chilling story that opens with a brief first-person account of the funeral of Emily Grierson who is an old widow. Her father died when Emily was about thirty and she refused to accept that he was dead for three days. Mr. Grierson choked Emily’s social ability. After a life of having potential husbands rejected by her father, she spends time after his death with a newcomer, Homer Barron who is a northern laborer. Emily buys arsenic from a shop in town for no

William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” is a complicated and controversial tale that, since its publication in 1930, challenges social norms. The story is about the unfortunate life of an aristocratic woman, Miss Emily Grierson, whose decrepit demeanor and eccentric behavior make her the town’s subject of scrutiny. After a series of odd events, Miss Emily dies and, upon her death, the townspeople discover that her seclusion led her to harness the heinous powers of arsenic to murder Homer Barron, the lover that attempted to desert her. Miss Emily kills Homer Barron because the town’s incessant gossiping, recognition of her gender, and acute awareness of her status create a toxic environment of isolation that drives her to insanity and, ultimately,

A Rose for Emily written by William Faulkner exemplifies Emily Griersons personal trials and tribulations she faced from her young adulthood to the end of her life. Composed in 1931, Faulkner wrote about the old South traditions that Miss Emily followed extensively until the day she died. Throughout this short story the audience follows Miss Emily’s journey of constantly battling the emotional difficulties of being caught up in the time-period of the Civil War, and all the hardships that followed her. After losing her father, Emily lives in a permeant state of denial. This caused her to make unhealthy, rash decisions. “After her father’s death she went out very little…”. (Faulkner, 1993. pg. 207) Miss Emily is characterized by the reader as an old style southern girl, who is caught up in a town on forcing her to move on from her past. Afraid to live the rest of her life without any loved ones, Emily then murders her boyfriend Homer Barron. After losing her father, Emily decides that the only rational thing to do is keep Homers corpse upstairs in a room. In doing so, Emily wishes to feel a sense of comfort and peace when she lays next to him each night. Unable to accept the fact that the world is constantly changing around her, Miss Emily chooses to ultimately seclude herself. Eventually, disconnecting from everyone she remains locked inside her fetid mansion for years. “When we next saw Miss Emily, she had grown fat and her hair was turning gray”. (Faulkner, 1993. pg. 210)

A conflictive episode of "A Rose for Emily" occurs when Emily bought arsenic from the druggist. He surely knew that she was insane and she would kill herself. Nevertheless, with very few words Emily persuaded him to sell her the arsenic, using her powerful reputation.

William Faulkner’s A Rose for Emily is a very intriguing short story about Miss Emily Grierson. In her early life, her father sheltered her from all men that wanted her. When he later died, she found a delightful man named Homer Barron. Emily and Homer had a relationship that was shamed by many of the people of Jefferson. Miss Emily’s name had always been in the gossip of the town. Miss Emily stayed confined in her home for the majority of her life. When she finally died, her family entered a room in her home where they found the body of Homer Barron rotting in her bed. The reason she killed him is unknown. One interpretation of her motive to kill Homer Barron could be that she was afraid of being alone and because of the way the town of

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

“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.