Grierson's Isolation

In the story “A Rose for Emily”, by William Faulkner, he chooses to narrate his story in third person rather than the main character being the narrator. The story begins at the main character, Emily Grierson’s funeral making us believe that her characteristics are being estimated by the people in her town. The narrator explains how Emily was isolated from the world because of her now dead father, that led her to become an impervious person; unaffected by traumatic events. Not long after the death of her father, Emily started dating, Homer Barren which was thought to be a replacement for her father. That was concluded from the isolated world her father made her live while he was alive, which did not involve any other men in her life. She was

Homer was in place of her father, but seeing that Emily ended up taking his life she had been impervious to any true feelings for the guy. She wanted to almost “redo” what had happened with her father. However, this time she would be able to keep the body seeing as nobody would know Homer was her in house. Her relationship with Homer had reflected her relationship with her father. For example, “Like her father, he carries a “Whip in a yellow glove” when they ride through the streets during their “courtship” (Polk 82). There is tiny details that remind her of her father, she is not affected by the fact that it is not her father, but rather Homer Barren. Emily did not want to give up her father’s body but the authorities had forced her too. Eventually after killing Homer, she kept the body. This was significant because she had wanted to keep her father’s body orginally. As stated in the story, there was evidence that Emily had been laying next to Homer’s body in bed by the imprint in the pillow. This was “the extent to her Oedipal dream” (Polk 82). In other words, her sexual desires of her father from being raised that way. Homer Barren was known to be also a father-surrogate (Polk 82). After her father’s death she is able to keep Homer’s body at least unlike her father’s body and she is able to somewhat “consummates” the Opedipal dream she had (Polk 82). She shows she is impervious by being able to keep the body upstairs in the bedroom all those years. She was not affected by the knowledge at all. The relationship with Homer Barren had been reflected with her relationship with her father. “Those who attended Emily’s funeral some forty years after Homer’s death saw a crayon portrait of her father “musing profoundly” over her coffin” (402) There was another reference to the painting as the people entering her bedroom saw Homer’s remains, Faulker described the skull confronting the