A Rose for Emily Essay “A Rose for Emily” is a short gothic and grotesque story told from a townsperson’s point of view of the mysterious Emily Grierson in Mississippi. She is well known for being her family’s grand history in Southern aristocracy with Emily and her father being the remaining two, still continue to live in tradition in their home that was once considered upscale that is now a lost era. Soon after her father passes away, Emily cannot move on when she refuses to pay her taxes and remains unmarried to her father’s pride and expectations. At this point, the towns people pity her as Homer Barron, a Northern day laborer arrives in town to pave the sidewalk. The two are seen spending time together and became the subject of gossip because Homer claims he isn’t the “marrying type”. After her lover leaves as the townspeople assume, she is rarely seen in public only to be accompanied by her only butler, Tobe. To the present, everyone unravels their curiosity about Emily and what remains in her mysterious home where her funeral is held. Inside a bedroom, they find Homer Barron’s decomposing body on the bed with her indentation beside it. There is many unanswered questions behind Emily Greierson’s demented habits. Although she lived in the life of luxury, she suffers the changing society, being gossiped by her neighbors, and being mentally controlled by her deceased father. The evidence of Emily’s obsession with corpses implies that she is not mentally well as she suffers from preserving her tradition in a modern environment. She still resides in her home that resembles her personality as it bares it’s “stubborn and coquettish decay” that was once flamboyant and lavishly decorated. Emily and her home is wh... ... middle of paper ... ...d to do that. We remembered all the young men her father had driven away, and we knew that with nothing left, she would have to cling to that which had robbed her, as people will." Since that quote suggests that her father was a selfish and psychotic it is directly expressed by her great aunt Lady Wyatt that the craziness runs in the family. This short story views society as the decline of the old south. Emily was a traditional southern belle who was submissive that drove her into insanity. From the townspersons point of view these are few of the answers of Emily’s suspenseful personality as little is known about her. The social and culture issues of the south and north had been exposed. Emily Grierson represented the old generation and slavery while Homer Barron represented the new generation with industrialization that clashes that cause her to point him.
Everyone has been told a legend or a story that has taken place in there town rather it be true or not. Some may be good but most of the time they are dark or creepy tails to scare local residents. Like in many places, there are a lot of dark and mysterious moments in William Faulkner’s story “A Rose for Emily.” However, this all hides the battle between Mrs. Emily and not wanting to accept change.
The protagonist of this story is Miss Emily Grierson, an old maid spinster without family who becomes a “tradition” and a “sort of hereditary obligation upon the town” (Faulkner 299). The story begins with the death of Miss Emily, so I will rearrange my analysis of the character to begin with what we first know about Miss Emily.
Miss Emily was brought into the spotlight the same moment as her father died. Being the last remaining person from the high ranking Grierson family in town, she became the new ambassador of the old days. The people welcomed her with open arms, without actually knowing anything more about her than her admirable name. Her father's death also meant that Miss Emily's unrevealed secret was brought into the grave. It is well known that insanity is a hereditary disposition, and Miss Emily's great-aunt, lady Wyatt, had "gone absolutely crazy"(80) before she passed away a couple of years earlier. Emily's father had since then dissociated from that branch of the family, as if to run away from a dishonorable influence. I believe that he was aware of her condition, and he therefore had kept her from social life and driven away the long road of suitors to prevent her from causing another scandal, which could spot his and his family's remaining reputation.
---. "A Rose for Emily." Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. 5th ed. New York: Harper Collins, 1991.
Emily’s psychotic personality disorder is made completely obvious through the details of the story. Before his death Emily’s father refused to allow her to reach sexual maturity by preventing her from loving any man below their class. This caused sexual ...
The story is clearly an illustration of the passing of the old to the new, and of the real character of human nature - decadence. The townspeople had an equal share in the crime that Miss Emily committed, and they were instrumental in its cover-up. She is described as "dear, inescapable, impervious, tranquil, and perverse." (85) This description sums up the people's outlook of both her, and themselves in their willingness to embrace her. Even today the fetters of certain types of ignorance and other forms of evil acts are on view anywhere in the country if one looks. A Rose for Emily illustrates it in its purest form in its own time.
who had lost the person she really knew. This repression of Emily’s father dying was
Emily had a servant so that she did not have to leave the house, where she could remain in solitary. The front door was never opened to the house, and the servant came in through the side door. Even her servant would not talk to anyone or share information about Miss Emily. When visitors did come to Emily’s door, she became frantic and nervous as if she did not know what business was. The death of Emily’s father brought about no signs of grief, and she told the community that he was not dead. She would not accept the fact that she had been abandoned because of her overwhelming fear. Emily’s future husband deserted her shortly after her father’s death. These two tragic events propelled her fear of abandonment forward, as she hired her servant and did not leave the house again shortly after. She also worked from home so that she never had a reason to leave. Emily did not have any family in the area to console in because her father had run them off after a falling out previously. She also cut her hair short to remind her of a time when she was younger and had not been deserted. Even though people did not live for miles of Emily Grierson, citizens began
This story takes place throughout the Reconstruction Era from the late 1800’s to the early 1900’s in Jefferson, Mississippi. Emily was raised in the period before the Civil War. Her father who was the only person in her life with the exception of a former lover who soon left her as well raised her. The plot of this story is mainly about Miss Emily’s attitude about change. While growing up Emily was raised in a comfortable environment because her father possessed a lot of money. Considering that her father was a very wealthy person who occasionally loaned the town money Emily had everything a child could want. This caused Emily to be very spoiled and selfish and she never knew the value of a dollar until her father left her with nothing but a run down home that started to decay after a period of time. She began to ignore the surrounding decay of the house and her appearance. These lies continued as she denied her father’s death, refused to pay taxes, ignores town gossip about her being a fallen woman, and does not tell the druggist why she purchased rat poison. Her life, like the decaying house suffered from a lack of genuine love and care. Her physical appearance is brought about by years of neglect.
Emily’s isolation is evident because after the men that cared about her deserted her, either by death or simply leaving her, she hid from society and didn’t allow anyone to get close to her. Miss Emily is afraid to confront reality. She seems to live in a sort of fantasy world where death has no meaning. Emily refuses to accept or recognize the death of her father, and the fact that the world around her is changing.
comes near his daughter. After living like this for so many years, Emily is left with
Emily father was highly favored in the town. Faulkner writes in his Short Story Criticism, “The Griersons have always been “high and mighty,” somehow above “the gross, teeming world….” Emily’s father was well respected and occasionally loaned the town money. That made her a wealthy child and she basically had everything a child wanted. Emily’s father was a very serious man and Emily’s mind was violated by her father’s strict mentality. After Emily’s father being the only man in her life, he dies and she find it hard to let go of him. Because of her father, she possessed a stubborn outlook on life and how thing should be. She practically secluded her self from society for the remainder of her life.
The inability to leave the past behind is a reoccurring theme in both the South and in “A Rose for Emily.” “Drawing on the tradition of Gothic literature in America, particularly Southern Gothic, the story uses grotesque imagery an...
William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” has many gothic themes such as, when Emily buys the arsenic and the tomb that lay buried in her house. These themes show that gothic literature consists of cryptic and dark settings and tones. This mysterious story is filled with violent events and creates suspense and terror.
Eliza, was supposedly deranged from her difficult birth to her daughter and the abuse of her husband.