Miss Emily Grierson's Character

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Faulkner describes Miss Emily physical appearance as “a small, fat woman in black, with a thin gold chain descending to her waist and vanishing into her belt- her plumpness in another was obesity.(page 2) ” This helps the reader put a face to the character. Appearance doesn’t have an influential impact on this short story, but her actions justify the story. “On the 1st of the year (city officials) mailed her a tax notice. February came and there was no reply. (page 1).” Miss Emily does as she pleases because she knows that most of the officials are afraid of her because of her last name, Grierson. The Griersons were known as a threatening family. On page 5 of the short story Faulkner wrote, “She carried her head high enough – even when we …show more content…

Miss Emily did not go outside of her house and “no visitor had passed since she ceased giving china-painting lessons eight or ten years ago. (page 2)” The only person that was ever seen at the house was a Negro man. Many people assumed this was Miss Emily’s servant who ran errands so she did not have to leave her house and wasn’t seen often. Throughout the story you will hear the words “Poor Emily” come out of many townspeople’s mouths, as they didn’t understand her reclusiveness. As such, Miss Emily’s actions were very suspicious. For example, shortly after Miss Emily bought arsenic and did not propose her reasoning, Mr. Homer Barron, a male that had been around Miss Emily quite often, went missing for an unjustified …show more content…

Miss Emily is portrayed as a very sad character, who has no guidance in her life, as did William Faulkner. Everything from her personality to her physical appearance displayed sadness and isolation. Miss Emily’s father passed and she didn’t know what to do. It didn’t matter to her if no one liked her or what people thought, she did as she pleased. That all ties together the theme and moral of the story. She clearly showed death, isolation and the setting portrayed the old South. All of the main messages that are shown in “A Rose for Emily” relate back to the life of William

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