Emily Grierson Obsession

925 Words2 Pages

The Brightest Stars Burn Out the Fastest Lights. Camera. Action! In many great civilizations, humans have had a tendency to put people up on display with higher levels of authority without question. It was not until the 20th century that the term was coined as celebrity worship. This practice has been around since ancient Egyptian times with Cleopatra and has continued through modern times with many actors, models, and singers. In “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner, Emily Grierson was known as a celebrity to a small town in the south in the 1890s. As a result, she was held to a higher standard in society, alienated, and allowed to break laws without consequence. Throughout the short story, Emily Grierson was constantly placed on …show more content…

This was apparent when she reached the age of thirty and still did not have a proper suitor due to her father dismissing potential mates. After her father’s death, Emily was further isolated because the whole town was happier seeing her fall from grace than comforting her in her time of loss. Emily’s father played a huge role in sheltering her from the world, which in return was a major causality of creating her insanity. It is demonstrated that Emily tries to ignore the town’s judgement as she started seeing Homer by demonstrating an imperious attitude towards the village’s shaming as “she carried her head high enough-even when [she was] we believed that she was fallen” (Faulkner 33). Emily’s isolation from society is similar to the way modern day celebrities are treated because people often forget that they are human too. This lack of compassion towards fellow humans often leads to mental breakdowns, as observed when Emily poisons Homer. If the townsfolk would have treated Emily the same, she might have been able to seek out medical help before she killed her lover. Due to the town’s negligence to reprimand Emily for anything, she was able to get away with numerous crimes, such as murder and tax

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