“A Rose for Emily,” a short story by William Faulkner published in 1930, tells the story of a women, Emily Grierson, who has been isolated her whole life. Starting at a young age, Emily’s father would shun any man who would try and come into Emily’s life, thus, causing her to be without anyone with whom to talk, without anyone to love, without anyone to keep her sane. This solitude leads Emily to do the unthinkable; Emily murders Homer Barron. Emily wasn’t aloud to have any sort of man in her life. Her father did not allow of it. “We remembered all the young men her father had driven away…” (Faulkner 3) This quote shows that her father denied any young men the chance to be with her. She had no say so in what happened and had to obey her …show more content…
Her father would shun everyone away that would try and come near her. When her father passed away, all she knew was to stay away from men.“ So when she got to be thirty and was still single, we were not pleased exactly, but vindicated;...” (Faulkner 3) This quote shows that even with her father passing, nothing has changed. Emily is still following in her father's rules. Emily was terrified of love since she has never experienced it before, so when she met Homer Barron her whole outlook on “love” was changed. “... we had said, “She will marry him,” Then we said, “She will persuade him yet,...’” (Faulkner 4) This shows that Emily is coming out of her shell and experiencing love for the first time. She doesn’t know what to do, but she does know that she doesn't want him to …show more content…
This lead to her having no one to talk to and no one to fall in love with. Since she was left alone for most of her life, she did not know how to act or how to fall in love, thus driving her to slight insanity. Since she was alone for so long she lacked some important details about the town and when she finally does begin to fall in love she never wants to lose it. She chooses to keep him forever by killing him and basically trapping him in her life, so that he can never leave her. Her insanity, fear of being left alone, and lack of knowledge on love and life can be attributed to her father, his actions when she was a young girl, and his death, since these all caused her to be alone her entire
Life is sad and tragic; some of which is made for us and some of which we make ourselves. Emily had a hard life. Everything that she loved left her. Her father probably impressed upon her that every man she met was no good for her. The townspeople even state “when her father died, it got about that the house was all that was left to her; and in a way, people were glad…being left alone…She had become humanized” (219). This sounds as if her father’s death was sort of liberation for Emily. In a way it was, she could begin to date and court men of her choice and liking. Her father couldn’t chase them off any more. But then again, did she have the know-how to do this, after all those years of her father’s past actions? It also sounds as if the townspeople thought Emily was above the law because of her high-class stature. Now since the passing of her father she may be like them, a middle class working person. Unfortunately, for Emily she became home bound.
While her father was around, Emily was never allowed to date. Her father thought that no man was good enough for Emily. Once her father passed away, Miss Emily became somewhat desperate for human love. Faulkner first tells us that shortly after her father’s death, Miss Emily’s sweetheart left her. Everybody in the town thought that Emily and this sweetheart of hers were going to be married.
William Faulkner’s "A Rose for Emily" is perhaps his most famous and most anthologized short story. From the moment it was first published in 1930, this story has been analyzed and criticized by both published critics and the causal reader. The well known Literary critic and author Harold Bloom suggest that the story is so captivating because of Faulkner’s use of literary techniques such as "sophisticated structure, with compelling characterization, and plot" (14). Through his creative ability to use such techniques he is able to weave an intriguing story full of symbolism, contrasts, and moral worth. The story is brief, yet it covers almost seventy five years in the life of a spinster named Emily Grierson. Faulkner develops the character Miss Emily and the events in her life to not only tell a rich and shocking story, but to also portray his view on the South’s plight after the Civil War. Miss Emily becomes the canvas in which he paints the customs and traditions of the Old South or antebellum era. The story “A Rose For Emily” becomes symbolic of the plight of the South as it struggles to face change with Miss Emily becoming the tragic heroin of the Old South.
One can clearly imagine the timid Emily standing behind her towering father. "Miss Emily a slender figure in white in the background, her father a spraddled silhouette in the foreground, his back to her and clutching a horsewhip." Emily's father not only dominates the portrait but dominates Emily as well. Emily's father controls her every move. She cannot date anyone unless her father approves, yet he never approves of any of the few men that do show interest in her. "None of the young men were quite good enough for Miss Emily and such." Unable to find a good enough suitor, Emily has no choice but to stay and care for her governing father.
The power Emily's father has over Emily can be seen in a portrait of the two that the narrator describes: "Emily a slender woman in white in the background, her father a spraddled silhouette in the foreground, his back to her and clutching a horsewhip." (141) He does in fact control her like a horse, never allowing her to date anyone. And until his death she indeed does not.
The description in this quotation leaves to conjure up the image of the father keeping Emily down and at home with him. Through his selfishness he isolates her from the rest of "normal" society, separating Emily from other girls her age, denying her of the joy and pleasures experienced by most of her peers.
When her father passed away, it was a devastating loss for Miss Emily. The lines from the story 'She told them her father was not dead. She did that for three days,' (Charter 171) conveys the message that she tried to hold on to him, even after his death. Even though, this was a sad moment for Emily, but she was liberated from the control of her father. Instead of going on with her life, her life halted after death of her father. Miss Emily found love in a guy named Homer Barron, who came as a contractor for paving the sidewalks in town. Miss Emily was seen in buggy on Sunday afternoons with Homer Barron. The whole town thought they would get married. One could know this by the sentences in the story ?She will marry him,? ?She will persuade him yet,? (Charter 173).
In A Rose for Emily, Emily was an independent woman, after her father died. The townspeople and mayor felt bad for her, so she was exempt from paying her taxes. She did not go by many of the traditional standards that women were supposed to live by. For example she had not gotten married or been close to marriage until later in her life. People thought this was weird, so once she finally found a man, that many people didn’t approve of, they allowed it. Homer did not marry her and tried leaving her, but she did not want him to leave her so she made sure he didn’t. The story said, “She will persuade him yet.” Not many women around this time would have forced a man to stay with them. Emily defied the traditional standards of women back then and the whole town felt bad that she was so independent and had to do stuff for herself.
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.
William Faulkner’s short story “A Rose for Emily” displays themes of alienation and isolation. Emily Grierson’s own father is found to be the root of many of her problems. Faulkner writes Emily’s character as one who is isolated from the people of her town. Her isolation from society and alienation from love is what ultimately drives her to madness.
At the beginning of the story when her father died, it was mentioned that “[Emily] told [the ladies in town] that her father was not 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” (626). Faulkner reveals Emily’s dependency on her father through the death of her father. As shown in this part of the story, Emily was very attached to her father and was not able to accept that fact that he was no longer around. She couldn’t let go of the only man that loved her and had been with her for all those years. While this may seem like a normal reaction for any person who has ever lost a loved one, Faulkner emphasizes Emily’s dependence and attachment even further through Homer Barron. After her father’s death, Emily met a man name Homer, whom she fell in love with. While Homer showed interest in Emily at the beginning he became uninterested later on. “Homer himself had remarked—he liked men” (627) which had caused Emily to become devastated and desperate. In order to keep Homer by her side, Emily decided to poison Homer and keep him in a bedroom in her home. It was clear that she was overly attached to Homer and was not able to lose another man that she
Emily had a close relationship to her father, and although the cause of his passing is left unsaid, it is made clear
Miss. Emily always had her eyes for a man before her father past away. Her father
Emily lived in a town in which she was looked up to. But after her father died, she felt lonely for some time. She then finds someone she loves very much. However, he did not love her back because he was gay. His name is Homer Barron. The townsfolk were talking about what was going on with Emily and what they believe will happen in the future. They predicted that “ ‘...she will marry him.’ Then we said, ‘she will persuade him yet,’ ” (Faulkner 7). The townsfolk talking about the relationship that is taking place between Emily and Homer shows how much love they have for each other. Earlier in the story, after her father died, the townsfolk were again talking about her, this time about her being alone. Her loneliness can be seen in the quote “When her after her father died, it got about that the house was all that was left to her… Being left alone, and a pauper, she had become humanized, ” (Faulkner 4). The death of her father instantly left her alone as she had no other family members living with her and did not have any close friends. The loneliness that Emily has after her father’s death and the love she receives from Homer are evidence that she changes as different events occur around
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...