William Faulkner's Emily: A Character Study

656 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Main character in rose for emily

Only Time Will Tell "A Rose for Emily," by William Faulkner, is an interesting character study. Faulkner fully develops the characters in this story by using the passage of time and the setting as well as the narration. The story is not told in chronological order; this allows him to piece in relevant information in an almost conversational way. He tells a tale of a woman who goes slowly insane due to heredity and environment; and describes the confusion and curiosity she causes the watching town. The tale takes place in a smallish town in Mississippi, circa 1920. Over time, the glory of the town has faded, just like Miss Emily Grierson, the main character, and her house. At one time, the house was one of the best houses in one of the best neighborhoods; Miss Emily was considered one of the best young women in town. Now, her house stands amidst the business section of town, a run-down eyesore. This compares to Emily herself; once a beauty, she is now old and considered crazy. Miss Emily and the changes in both her appearance and mental state are portrayed in full detail. Once a young, slim woman, she is now fat and bloated, her eyes "looked like two small pieces of coal pressed into a lump of dough" (Faulkner 468). Her coldness and reclusive nature becomes more pronounced as the story evolves. As she ages, she does not leave the house as often and allows fewer visitors to come in. Two men directly influenced her fate, her father and her lover. Her father did not believe anyone was good enough for her; so he ran off all of her possible suitors. He is described as a "spraddled silhouette in the foreground, his back to her and clutching a horsewhip" (Faulkner 469). Her first sign of insanity appears when her father dies; since she had no-one else, her mind refused to believe that he was dead. Two years later, when Emily was about thirty, she met Homer Barron, her only sweetheart. He is described more directly than anyone else in the story, including Emily. He is "a Yankee - a big, dark, ready man" (Faulkner 470), good natured and well liked by everyone. His refusal to marry Emily pushes her over the brink, into madness. Homer disappears quietly, saying goodbye to no-one. The third man in her life, her manservant, is described as a quiet and reserved black man.

Show More
Related

  • Essay on the Structure of William Faulkner's A Rose for Emily

    647 Words  | 2 Pages

    Faulkner, William. "A Rose for Emily". An Introduction to Literature, 11th ed. Ed. Barnet, Sylvan, et al. 287-294.

    Read More

  • Emily Grierson?' Need for Control in William Faulkner's A Rose for Emily

    915 Words  | 2 Pages

    Faulkner, William. "A Rose for Emily." The Norton Introduction to Literature. By Carl E. Bain, Jerome Beaty, and J. Paul Hunter. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 1991: 69-76.

    Read More

  • Character Analysis Of Miss Emily In William Faulkner's A Rose For Emily

    625 Words  | 2 Pages

    The slow-moving, old-fashioned, chivalric south has become the setting of the story. Miss Emily’s house is one dating back to the 1870s, and it is designed with “cupolas ad squires and scrolled balconies." The house rests on town’s “most select street”. Miss Emily surrounding house was taken over by garages and cotton gins. The rest of the town became more of a working class area than it once was. Emily’s house

    Read More

  • My Neighbor's Keeper?: William Faulkner's A Rose for Emily

    1629 Words  | 4 Pages

    My Neighbor’s Keeper?           William Faulkner's A Rose for Emily is set in the small southern town of Jefferson during the early decades of the twentieth century . At this time, vast and cardinal changes were being made by the upcoming new south to conceal and move from the horrid truths that were a part of the town's history. In lieu of this, Jefferson was at a turning point in which they were having difficulty coming to terms with these changes . Integrating Faulkner's use of character and symbols with other sources,  it will be supported that despite of the attempts made to carry Miss Emily and others who expressed denial and fear of modernity, change is an inevitable reality that was unable to be escaped.       The author uses Miss Emily, the main character as the prime figure of one who is unwilling to welcome change in any aspect but ironically it was present in her everyday life.  To show this, Faulkner references the appearance of Miss Emily on numerous occasions. The first time in which her appearance is noted if is the narrator depicts Miss Emily’s semblance as a “small, fat woman in black" (Faulkner 30).  After the reader receiving this description of her appearance, there is another time in which her appearance is mentioned again in the text: “When we saw her again her hair was cut short, making her look like a girl." (Faulkner 31). With this one may receive the impression of Miss Emily being so resistant to change on all aspects aside from traditional norm, the total contrary is the reality of this.  Emily trying to appear more feminine, is a total change that she exhibited ever since her father has passed away. Later on in the story, a final mention of Miss Emily’s appearance is described: “She had grown fat and h...

    Read More

  • Free Essay - Setting in William Faulkner's A Rose for Emily

    915 Words  | 2 Pages

    Faulkner portrays the townspeople and Emily in the southern town of Jefferson during the late 1800's to early 1900's. The town is more than just the setting in the story; it takes on its own characterization alongside Emily the main character. It is the main reasoning behind Emily's attitude and actions. It gives the reader an easier understanding into why Emily makes the decisions she does as the story unwinds.

    Read More

  • William Faulkner's A Rose for Emily

    674 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the story “A Rose for Emily”, William Faulkner, the author talks about a life of a woman and the town she lived in.

    Read More

  • The Resistance to Change

    995 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Faulkner’s “A Rose For Emily” the lead character is the center piece of resistance to change. Emily’s image is described on multiple accounts revealing a steady change in her life. Early on in the story the narrator a member of the civilization describes her as, “small, fat woman in black” (Faulkner 30). He mentions her appearance again by saying, “When we saw her again her hair was cut short, making her look like a girl." (Faulkner 31). This statement is made after the untimely death of her father. The subject of her image is mentioned one last time saying, “She had grown fat and her hair was turning gray...pepper and salt-iron gray."

    Read More

  • A Haunting Past in Faulkner's A Rose of Emily

    1142 Words  | 3 Pages

    At the beginning of the story, the reader learns that Miss Emily “is portrayed as ’a fallen monument,’… because she has shown herself susceptible to death (and decay) after all” (West 264). The house can also be perceived as a “fallen monument”(Faulkner 81) as the narrator proceeds to describe the house, magnificent as it once was, and how it has become dilapidated through the years. The same can be said about Miss Emily, as time passed she “looked bloated like a body long submerged in motionless water, and of that pallid hue”(Faulkner 82).

    Read More

  • Necrophilia in A Rose for Emily

    747 Words  | 2 Pages

    Miss Emily was part of the highly revered Grierson family, the aristocrats of the town. They held themselves to a higher standard, and nothing or nobody was ever good enough for them. Faulkner fist gives us the clue of Emily's mental condition when he refers to Emily's great-aunt, Lady Wyatt. Faulkner tells us that Lady Wyatt had "gone completely crazy" (Faulkner 93). Due to the higher standards they had set for themselves, they believed that they were too high for that and then distanced themselv...

    Read More

  • Fallen from Grace: "A Rose for Emily" by William Faulkner

    1064 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout the story, Faulkner so painstakingly attempted to maintain as much attention to detail so the reader would not loose sight of her plight of the times. The poor woman, once a pillar of society in her fathers' eye, had no one left once he was gone. Her feeble attempts to maintain a sense of serenity and purpose were always shutdown from within herself. While the world changed outside, Miss Emily's mind never changed from that early state that was bore in her soul.

    Read More

  • William Faulkner's A Rose for Emily : Her Father is to Blame

    672 Words  | 2 Pages

    William Faulkner’s A Rose for Emily tells a story of a young woman who is violated by her father’s strict mentality. After being the only man in her life Emily’s father dies and she finds it hard to let go. Like her father Emily possesses a stubborn outlook towards life, and she refused to change. While having this attitude about life Emily practically secluded herself from society for the remainder of her life. She was alone for the very first time and her reaction to this situation was solitude.

    Read More

  • The Importance of Plot in William Faulkner's A Rose for Emily

    1443 Words  | 3 Pages

    period in her life. These parts are prime examples of how Faulkner jumps back and forth throughout Emily’s lifetime. Part one begins with Emily’s funeral while part two begins “thirty years before”, “two years after her fathers death and a short time after her sweetheart”, Homer Barron. (93) Part three begins with her meeting Homer. This is interesting because the part before takes place after he dies. This also shows how Faulkner keeps one guessing with his unorthodox plot order. The next part talks of how Emily is planning to supposedly kill herself. It tells of how she buys the...

    Read More

  • Critical Analysis Of A Rose For Emily

    804 Words  | 2 Pages

    Faulkner then introduces someone of Miss Emily 's interest, a day-laborer in town, Homer Barron. They were seen together a lot. At first, everyone believed they were to be married, but Homer was not the marrying kind. Although Miss Emily takes a liking to Homer, he is not interested in "settling down". Miss Emily soon enters a depressive state and goes to purchase arsenic, leaving the townspeople to believe she planned on killing herself. Miss Emily found out that Homer wasn 't going to marry her and she couldn 't bear the fact she would have to lose someone all over again, putting her in the mindset that she had to find a way to be able to keep him forever. Homer Barron had been seen entering the home of Miss Emily but never seen leaving. As the story goes on, Miss Emily passes away at seventy-four. Faulkner ends his story with the way he opened it, with Miss Emily 's funeral. The town came to see her and broke down a door to a back room that hadn 't been opened in forty years. When the townspeople approached the room, they found a corpse of a man lying in the bed, with a long strand of gray hair by the

    Read More

  • Literary Elements in A Rose For Emily

    1692 Words  | 4 Pages

    Miss Emily's house as the setting of the story is a perfect metaphor for the events occurring during that time period. It portrays the decay of Miss Emily's life and values and of the southern way of life and their clash with the newer generations. The house is situated in what was once a prominent neighborhood that has now deteriorated. Miss Emily's "big, squarish frame house that had once been white, decorated with cupolas and spires and scrolled balconies in the heavily lightsome style of the seventies of an earlier time," now looked awkward surrounded by "cotton wagons" and "gasoline pumps." The townspeople consider it "an eyesore among eyesores." Time has taken a similar role with Miss Emily altering her appearance from that of a "slender figure in white" (624) to that of "a small, fat woman in black" (622). The setting of Faulkner's story defines Miss Emily's tight grasp of ante-bellum ways and unchanging demeanor.. Through her refusal to put "metal numbers above her door and attach a mail box" to her house she is refusing to change with society. Miss Emily's attitude towards change is ...

    Read More

  • A Victim of Society in A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner

    558 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

More about William Faulkner's Emily: A Character Study

Open Document