In “A Rose for Emily,” written by William Faulkner during a time where old traditions seem as important to Emily Grierson than anything in the world. She is a lady that holds on to her beliefs strongly from the old South. She could not embrace change from the new generation of newcomers into the new South in which she lives until the day of her death. She has to live her life in isolation and hidden in darkness from a world she never could understand. Miss Grierson is not allowing anyone into this vulnerable place. This leads her to look for acceptance and companionship from beyond the grave. Emily Grierson’s mental illness stems from several dysfunctions with her overbearing father, the curious community, and her own insecurities that lie within.
When Miss Grierson loss her father, it seems like a part of her died with him. She continues to function like a regular human being, but she did not have all the mechanical equipment she needs to move forward in her life. Emily’s father has shown a lot of domination over his daughter’s life and this could have been the reason for her not being as close to anyone within the community. According to the critics, “To protect her, he must turn (trope) against her, leaving her untouched and inviolate” (Arensberg and Schyfter 127). This means Mr. Grierson has to be tough with his daughter but not bring any harm to his daughter. Emily would carry this behavior into her adulthood leaving her to show no signs of empathy towards another individual. Emily and Mr. Grierson relationship could have been seen to many people more like incest between a father and a daughter. This kind of behavior could have been normal to Emily being that she did not communicate with anyone else but her father. Mr. Gri...
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Having been the only daughter of a noble family, Emily was overprotected by her father who 'had driven away' all the young men wanting to be close to her. As a result of that, when she got to be thirty, she was still alone. It was Mr. Grierson who alienated his daughter from the normal life of a young woman. If she weren't born in the Grierson, if she didn?t have an upper-class father, she could get many relationships with many young men in order to find herself an ideal lover. Then she might have a happy marriage life with nice husband and children
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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 ...
Faulkner, William “A Rose for Emily”. Schilb, John and John Clifford “Making Literature Matters: An Anthropology for Readers and Writers”, Boston and New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2009. 667-675
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.
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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 girl with aspirations of growing up and finding a mate that she could soon marry and start a family, but this was all impossible because of her father. The father believed that, “none of the younger man were quite good enough for Miss Emily,” because of this Miss Emily was alone. Emily was in her father’s shadow for a very long time. She lived her li...