In William Faulkner’s a “A Rose for Emily” the narrator tells the story of a desperate, eccentric and secluded woman named Emily Grierson. Her manipulative father’s denial and control became the only form of love she knew. Causing her to make numerous negative life altering decisions; Miss Emily refuses to embrace the changes the town’s people are implementing. Emily makes her own logic of law and conduct, her dismissal of the law eventually brings on a sinister twist to the story. Following her own set of rules in which it is acceptable to take the life of the man, to keep him by her side.
Miss Emily decides to evade the law by refusing to have numbers placed on her house when federal mail service is established. She also refused to pay the tax bill; even after the city authorities pay her a visit to inquire about the bill. Emily’s response to their visit is “I have no taxes in Jefferson. Colonel Sartoris explained it to me…” (31). Despite the fact that Colonel Sartoris has been dead for over a decade. She was not going to pay the bill no matter what the city authorities said. After saying the few words she had to say she quickly yells “Tobe! Show these gentlemen out” (31). As usual her wishes are commands, the men vacate the property and that is the end of that problem. Miss Emily has become accustomed to getting her way and this case is not the exception. These actions cause her to become more mysterious and alienate her more from town’s people that already believe Grierson’s think too highly of them selves considering she is already regarded by the towns people to be “… a tradition, a duty, and a care: a sort of hereditary obligation upon the town” (30).
At the age of thirty Mr. Grierson perished leaving Emily still single...
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...rd, that faint and invisible dust dry and acrid in the nostrils, we saw a long strand of iron-gray hair” (35). This statement makes be think she suffered of necrophilia, meaning a person has a sexual or emotional attraction to the dead.
As we can see in the story Emily Grierson was repressed and manipulated by her father throughout her life until he dies when Emily is thirty. Leaving her to grieve the only way she knows how to, by controlling her surroundings. For this reason she creates her own set of rules in which it is acceptable reject laws and even infringe upon her lovers right to live. Emily’s controlling personality affected every aspect of her life.
Work Cited
Faulkner, William. “A Rose for Emily.” Literature: An Introduction to Fiction,
Poetry, Drama and Writing. Ed. X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. 11th ed.
New York: Longman, 2010. 29-35. Print.
Through the use of third person point of view and elaborate, repetitive foreshadowing, William Faulkner describes how numerous elements contributed to Miss Emily's deranged behavior in the short story, 'A Rose for Emily.' Not only does Faulkner imply paternal oppression, but there is also a clear indication of insanity that is an inherent pattern in the Grierson family. The shocking conclusion of 'A Rose for Emily' could be the result of a number of circumstances, but is most likely due to the years of isolation and the overbearing upbringing Emily experienced with her father.
In the story "A Rose for Emily," the author, William Faulkner, recounts the life of a woman from an elite family in the Deep South. Emily Grierson is an eccentric spinster who goes through her life searching for love and security. Due to her relationship with her father, and the intrusiveness of the townspeople in her life, she is unable to get away from her past. Arising from a young woman's search for love, the use of symbolism profoundly develops the theme, therefore, bringing to light the issues of morality.
Mr. Grierson was very overprotective of his daughter and ran away all the suitors who came to court Ms. Emily. This contributed to Ms. Emily’s inability to have a meaningful relationship with the opposite sex. Her father kept her totally depended on him. She was not allowed to see a healthy and loving relationship with a man, therefore, robbing Ms. Emily of the opportunity to live a normal life. So, when her father died, her future died along with him. She was unable to support herself financially. She was unable to accept her father’s death. She would not even...
Faulkner begins the story upon the arrival of Miss Emily's burial service. The state of mind is nostalgic as the storyteller thinks back about Emily's home and how it once enraptured the general population of the town, yet now lies in vestiges. We learn Miss Emily has been falling flat in her obligation by not paying duties, which Colonel Sartoris states is because of a credit that was given to the town by her dad. This we learn turns into an issue with Colonel Sartoris' successors and they in the end meet with Emily. The meeting happens at Emily's home, which is old, with worn furniture, and appears to have not been under any fundamental consideration. All through the meeting Emily is uncooperative, demanding the course of action in the middle of her and Colonel Sartoris, and declining to pay charges. Emily eludes the town's authorities to Colonel Sartoris, not realizing that
William Faulkner’s A Rose for Emily is a dreary short story told of a traditional woman surrounded by death living in an ever-changing town. Emily’s funeral is the opening paragraph in A Rose for Emily to help introduce the background of the town’s perception of the curiosity known as Emily. Faulkner introduces Emily by stating “She looked bloated, like a body long submerged in motionless water, and of that pallid hue.” (323) The sorrow of the main character in A Rose for Emily is illustrated by the reaffirmation of death throughout the story and how it seems to follow her in life by her resistance to change.
seemed almost as a tyrant of Emily’s life. He controlled everything she did, felt no man
Emily was drove crazy by others expectations, and her loneliness. ““A Rose for Emily,” a story of love and obsession, love, and death, is undoubtedly the most famous one among Faulkner’s more than one hundred short stories. It tells of a tragedy of a screwy southern lady Emily Grierson who is driven from stem to stern by the worldly tradition and desires to possess her lover by poisoning him and keeping his corpse in her isolated house.” (Yang, A Road to Destruction and Self Destruction: The Same Fate of Emily and Elly, Proquest) When she was young her father chased away any would be suitors. He was convinced no one was good enough for her. Emily ended up unmarried. She had come to depend on her father. When he finally died, ...
By using strong characterization and dramatic imagery, William Faulkner introduces us to Miss Emily Grierson in “A Rose for Emily”. The product of a well-established, but now fallen family, Emily plays common role found in literature- a societal outcast, who earns her banishment from society through her eclectic behavior and solitary background. Often living in denial and refusing to engage with others, Emily responds to her exile by spending the remainder of her life as a mysterious recluse that the rest of society is more content to ignore rather than break social customs to confront her. Emily’s role as an outcast mirrors a major theme of the story, that denial is a powerful tool in hiding a secret, however, the truth will eventually emerge. The mystery surrounding Emily’s character and the story’s memorable imagery creates a haunting tale that lingers with the reader.
One of the seductive factors of William Faulkner’s society in “A Rose for Emily” is the traditional and adamant mental attitude of the main character in the novel. Miss Emily Grierson was stern in her ways and refused to accept change. She was known to be a hereditary obligation to the town. When the next generation and modern ideas came into progress she creates dissatisfaction by not paying her taxes. For many years and through the time of her death she would receive a tax notice every December and it would be returned by the post office a week later unclaimed. When the town got free postal delivery, Miss Emily was opposed to the new idea. She herself did not allow them to fasten the metal numbers above her door and attach a mail box to it. She has no tolerance when it comes to modern ideas. Depression and anguish increased within her causing major conflicts after her father’s death. Being left alone and without any close family to seek support from, she dwelled in disbelief. As custom from the town all the ladies prepared to call at the house and offer condolence and aid, but Miss Emily met them at the door with no trace of grief on her face. She told them that her father was not dead. For three days she was inclined to disbelieve and what had happened while minister and doctors tried to persuade her to let them dispose of the body.
All in all, the story of “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner represents a chilling and twisted story of a woman who used every option, even murder, to keep her state of happiness. Faulkner cleverly uses symbols, characters, and theme to fully illustrate the twisted mind of Emily Grierson and the communities never ending struggle between incorporating modern rules and keeping traditional values.
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.
In William Faulkner’s short story “A Rose for Emily” Miss Emily Grierson holds on to the past with a grip of death. Miss Emily seems to reside in her own world, untarnished by the present time around her, maintaining her homestead as it was when her father was alive. Miss Emily’s father, the manservant, the townspeople, and even the house she lives in, shows that she remains stuck in the past incapable and perhaps reluctant to face the present.
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.
In “A Rose for Emily”, by William Faulkner, Emily Geierson is a woman that faces many difficulties throughout her lifetime. Emily Geierson was once a cheerful and bright lady who turned mysterious and dark through a serious of tragic events. The lost of the two men, whom she loved, left Emily devastated and in denial. Faulkner used these difficulties to define Emily’s fascinating character that is revealed throughout the short story. William Faulkner uses characterization in “A Rose for Emily”, to illustrate Miss Emily as a stubborn, overly attached, and introverted woman.
As a child, Emily was unable make friends or even play outside because her father held his family to a much higher standard than other townspeople “The Griersons held themselves a little too high for what they really were” (Faulkner 36). Emily’s father, selfishly held Emily back from living, loving, and freedom. She was unable to find a soul mate because her father believed that “None of the young men were quite good enough for Miss Emily and such” (Faulkner 36). Because of this, Emily stuck close to the only man she’s ever known like a newborn to its mother. Emily and her father had such a close bond that when he died, for days she refused to believe he was dead, and she also refused to let the townspeople dispose of the body. For the townspeople, Emily’s reaction to her father’s death was quite normal, but for readers it was our first glimpse at her necrophilia.