In William Faulkner's 1930 short story "A Rose for Emily," the protagonist, Miss Emily Grierson is a desperately lonely woman. Miss Emily finds herself completely isolated from other people her entire life, yet somehow manages to continue on with her head held high. French philosopher and writer Voltaire said "We are rarely proud when we are alone," but Miss Emily's case is quite the opposite. The strength that Miss Emily gains from pride is what helps her through the loneliest of times. Miss Emily doesn't choose to be lonely, as no one ever does, but her path is chosen for her at an early age. Miss Emily's aristocratic father only wants the best for his little girl, and never allows her to have relationships with men. The narrator in the story In one aspect, Miss Emily's father strips her of the important social skills needed to survive by protecting her so intensely, but by placing her on such a high pedestal she gains a sense of pride that no one can take away from her. Because of the way she is raised, Miss Emily sees herself as "high society," and looks down upon those who she thinks of as commoners. This places her under the harsh scrutiny of the townspeople who keep her under a watchful eye. The only others who see Miss Emily as she sees herself are the Mayor Colonel Sartoris, and Judge Stevens. After Miss Emily's father dies, Colonel Sartoris takes it upon himself to help Miss Emily with her finances. In order to appeal to her pride while at the same time providing assistance, he comes up with a story about her father lending the town money and in order to pay it back, remits her taxes. And when the neighbors and Board of Aldermen complain about the smell coming from Miss Emily's house, Judge Stevens refuses to bother her about it. When the youngest alderman suggests that they send word to have her clean her house up, Judge Stevens replies "Dammit, sir, will you accuse a lady to her face of smelling bad?" (6) Besides the judge and the mayor, there are no others that try to help Miss Emily, or even want to see her succeed. As times change and the old aristocratic ways become a thing of the past, the lonely Miss Emily still clings onto her old belief system and her proud, high and mighty demeanor.
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.
The domineering attitude of Emily's father keeps her to himself, inside the house, and alone until his death. In his own way, Emily's father shows her how to love. Through a forced obligation to love only him, as he drives off young male callers, he teaches his daughter lessons of love. It is this dysfunctional love that resurfaces later, because it is the only way Emily knows how to love.
Faulkner, William. "A Rose for Emily." The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction. Shorter 5th ed. Ed. R.V.Cassill. New York: W.W. Norton & Comp., 1995. 275-83.
Having been the only daughter of a noble family, Emily was overprotected by her father who had driven away all the young men wanting to be close to her. As a result of that, when she got to be thirty, she was still alone. It was Mr. Grierson who alienated his daughter from the normal life of a young woman. If she weren?t born in the Grierson, if she didn?t have an upper-class father, she could have many relationships with many young men in order to find herself an ideal lover. Then she might have a happy marriage life with a nice husband and children.
Notable Norwegian philosopher Lars Fr. H. Svendsen in A Philosophy of Boredom (2005) wrote that, “self-identity is inextricably bound up with the identity of the surroundings” (Svendsen 143). In this way, it can be reasoned that the complex dynamic of interconnected relationships surrounding the individual, in turn develops a perceived notion of ‘character’ that serves to negate true identity rather than reveal it. This concept is one that easily extends to William Faulkner’s short story, “A Rose for Emily” (2004). Within the text, the constructed description of the central protagonist, Miss Emily, as outlined through the narration of the townspeople, is that of “a slender figure in white” positioned in “tableau” (Faulkner 1350). In the same
Miss Emily is the old fashioned person in a town that’s evolving to become more updated. The story states, “It was a big, squarish frame house ..., set on what had once been our most select street. ...only Miss Emily's house was left, lifting its stubborn and coquettish decay above the cotton wagons and the gasoline pumps-an eyesore among eyesores.” (Faulkner). In another part of the story, Miss Emily never paid her taxes and when someone came to her house to discuss the tax problem, she said Colonel Sartoris, the once mayor of the town, didn’t require her to pay her taxes. The problem was he had been dead for 10 years. For Aunt Alexandra, she is obsessed with “old family” and traditional views. Shows this by coming to the Finch house and trying to make Scout more ladylike. With these things in mind, it’s clear that Miss Emily and Aunt Alexandra are both similar, demonstrating the same traits and viewing at the same
Although I do not agree with how Miss Emily Grierson behaved, but I do not blame her. Harbored from reality her entire life I can expect for her to do some unordinary things. I feel bad for Miss Emily because she was the center of attention in a modernized town where she still practiced her traditional values. Through the eyes the townspeople we get our views of Emily at a distance. Had the story been told from Emily’s perspective we could better understand her reasoning for her bizarre behavior.
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.
This story takes place throughout the Reconstruction Era from the late 1800’s to the early 1900’s in Jefferson, Mississippi. Emily was raised in the period before the Civil War. Her father who was the only person in her life with the exception of a former lover who soon left her as well raised her. The plot of this story is mainly about Miss Emily’s attitude about change. While growing up Emily was raised in a comfortable environment because her father possessed a lot of money. Considering that her father was a very wealthy person who occasionally loaned the town money Emily had everything a child could want. This caused Emily to be very spoiled and selfish and she never knew the value of a dollar until her father left her with nothing but a run down home that started to decay after a period of time. She began to ignore the surrounding decay of the house and her appearance. These lies continued as she denied her father’s death, refused to pay taxes, ignores town gossip about her being a fallen woman, and does not tell the druggist why she purchased rat poison. Her life, like the decaying house suffered from a lack of genuine love and care. Her physical appearance is brought about by years of neglect.
Miss Emily’s isolation is able to benefit her as well. She has the entire town believing she is a frail and weak woman, but she is very strong indeed. Everyone is convinced that she could not even hurt a fly, but instead she is capable a horrible crime, murder. Miss Emily’s actions range from eccentric to absurd. After the death of her father, and the estrangement from the Yankee, Homer Barron, she becomes reclusive and introverted. The reader can find that Miss Emily did what was necessary to keep her secret from the town. “Already we knew that there was one room in that region above stairs which no one had seen in forty years” (247).
Faulkner, William. "A Rose for Emily." The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction. Shorter 5th ed. Ed. R.V.Cassill. New York: W.W. Norton & Comp., 1995.
William Faulkner, one of the most famed writers of our times, explores in his writing the themes of alienation and isolation. He interweaves these themes with his female characters. In A Rose for Emily, Miss Emily Grierson is a woman who is alienated and lives in isolation from the people in her town. The theme of isolation is the focal point of the story, since it is what drove her to her 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.
Colonel Sartoris did his best to take care of Emily and, to him, that was ensuring she did not have to pay taxes. Miss Emily developers a sensual relationship with a man named Homer Barron, he came down from the north to reconstruct the south after the civil war. Younger people in town are happy that she finally found someone. On the other hand, older people think them being together is wrong due to the fact that he is a northerner and the Grierson family is seen as southern royalty. One day Emily is seen buying a men’s outfit and a toilet engraved “with the letters H.B. on each piece.”
Miss Emily’s refusal to change all started when her father had passed away and when asked about it she was in denial and “she told them her father was not dead.” She didn’t want to come to the realization that the only person in her life that loved her and protected her was gone. The fact that he was so controlling of her life and how she lived made Miss Emily afraid of what was going to happen next. She wasn’t used to making her own life choices.