Emily Grierson Downfall

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.

"A Rose for Emily" is a wonderful short story written by William Faulkner. It begins with at the end of Miss Emily’s life and told from an unknown person who most probably would be the voice of the town. Emily Grierson is a protagonist in this story and the life of her used as an allegory about the changes of a South town in Jefferson after the civil war, early 1900's. Beginning from the title, William Faulkner uses symbolism such as house, Miss Emily as a “monument “, her hair, Homer Barron, and even Emily’s “rose” to expresses the passing of time and the changes. The central theme of the story is decay in the town, the house, and in Miss Emily herself. It shows the way in which we all grow old and decay and there is nothing permanent

In “A Rose for Emily”, Charles Faulkner used a series of flashbacks and foreshadowing to tell Miss Emily’s story. Miss Emily is an interesting character, to say the least. In such a short story of her life, as told from the prospective of a townsperson, who had been nearly eighty as Miss Emily had been, in order to tell the story from their own perspective. Faulkner set up the story in Mississippi, in a world he knew of in his own lifetime. Inspired by a southern outlook that had been touched by the Civil War memory, the touch of what we would now look at as racism, gives the southern aroma of the period. It sets up Miss Emily’s southern belle status and social standing she had been born into, loner or not.

In “A Rose for Emily,” Faulkner employs a narrator to describe Emily Grierson, a recently deceased old woman. Apart from her manservant, she does not interact with others, save for a short period of time in

William Faulkner writes “A Rose for Emily”, which is a tale about the peculiar events in a small town in Mississippi. The protagonist, Emily Grierson, is an eccentric lady that encounters tragedies throughout her life. Unexpectedly, she meets Homer Barron whom she considers the love of her life. In this tragic love story, Faulkner reveals the true identities of these individuals. The main character, Emily Grierson, in the story “A Rose for Emily”, is portrayed as a dynamic character, an anti-hero in the story, and a mysterious citizen in the small town of Jefferson.

We are able to find some possible answers in the writing A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner. The composition includes five parts that tell us short episodes about Emily Grierson’s life and if we can read between the lines, perhaps we get answers and explanations, how could the outside facts, like her father’s influence, manipulate the decisions, ideology and the life of a people. This essay will explain the role of Mr. Grierson in her daughter, Emily’s life.

William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” is a very chilling story that opens with a brief first-person account of the funeral of Emily Grierson who is an old widow. Her father died when Emily was about thirty and she refused to accept that he was dead for three days. Mr. Grierson choked Emily’s social ability. After a life of having potential husbands rejected by her father, she spends time after his death with a newcomer, Homer Barron who is a northern laborer. Emily buys arsenic from a shop in town for no

In “A Rose for Emily”, Miss Emily Grierson lives a life of quiet turmoil. Her

The author’s third main character, Homer Barron, really shows us just how far Miss Emily has spiraled out of control. When the neighbors first get wind of Miss Emily dating Homer, a northerner, they are happy for her saying, "[a]t first we were glad that Miss Emily would have an interest...but there were still others, older people who said that even grief could not cause a real lady to forget noblesse oblige--without calling it noblesse oblige" (208). Some of the neighbors could not believe that a woman of Miss Emily's class would date someone beneath her, but many were just glad that her luck was turning around. Soon Miss Emily’s neighbors start to notice her seriousness with Homer saying, “[w]e learned that Miss Emily had been to the jeweler’s

Grierson's life to symbolize Southern aristocracy. For example, when she tried to buy poison from the druggist, she had that air of superiority about her that demonstrated her supposed position of authority, which was illustrated when the druggist submitted to her demands and got her the poison (35). Another example is when Emily remits the taxes being imposed on her by the newer generation (33). The townspeople respect that fact that she is an aristocrat. That is why they are very hesitant when it comes to defying what she wants. Also since the story was told in the point of view of the townspeople, we are able to grasp the idea of the slow decline of the customs of the “Old South” as the townspeople continue to move forward. From Emily's point of view, she might still be thinking that the customs from the “Old South” are still active and is not declining at all, since she is someone who is unwilling to accept change. This in turn leads to her slow demise as she is unable to adapt to the changes in the newer generations. However, when Ms. Grierson dies, so do her traditions and customs, basically symbolizing the decay of Southern aristocracy of the town and the start of change that the newer generations will

Then as time progress down Emily’s life to the death of her father something very unusual and dark occurs, “She told them that her father was not dead. She did that for three days... Just as they were about to resort to law and force, she broke down, and they buried her father quickly” (Faulkner 518). At this point it can be assumed that Emily has developed her first full blown attachment, which was her father. Since he was the only significant figure within her life he was the only things she had. Then when her father died it hit Emily immensely harder because she had just lost her entire world. However, it may go deeper than that and it can even be said that the reason she broke down because she lost the only thing in her life that brought her order and stability within her life. So with his death Emily was free from the leash Mr. Grierson had her on the majority of her life but she had no idea what do with her life because it never was hers for a very long period of time.

In 1930 William Faulkner published his very first story, “A Rose for Emily.” The story emerges with the funeral of Emily Grierson and discloses the story out of sequence; Faulkner brings into play an anonymous first-person narrator thought to be the representation of Grierson’s municipality. Miss Emily Grierson’s life was read to be controlled by her father and all his restrictions. Grierson was raised through her life with the thought that no man was adequate for her. Stuck in her old ways, Grierson continued with the Old South’s traditions once her father had passed. Awhile following her father’s death, Emily aims to put the longing for love to a stop and allows Homer Barron to enter her life. Faulkner portrays the literary movement of Modernism utilizing allegory through the post-bellum South after the American Civil War. In the short story “A Rose Emily,” William Faulkner uses a series of symbols to illustrate the prominent theme of the resistance of the refinement of life around Miss Emily.

Mr. Grierson was another important character in the story. It was he controlled Miss Emily’s mind. He had such an influence on her. Perhaps Faulkner have made him this way to show the love he and Miss Emily had for each other. He tried to influence her to what he thought was the best for her in return, she listened and obey because of the love she had for her father. In describing the death of Mr. Grierson, Faulkner again foreshadows or alludes to the tragic ending; “She told them that her father was not dead,” and “did that for three days, until she finally broke

Emily Grierson had a rather normal childhood. She was a young, southern girl whose family was made out to be a lot more extravagant than reality actually represented. Pride was something which she stressed was quite important in her family. She felt the pressure to keep the family pride going. From her description, her town seemed to be one where women were brought up to be quite narrow minded and controlled. Emily herself was controlled by her father, a man who pushed others away who tried to please Emily. None of the men that would present themselves to Emily were seen as acceptable by her father. She seemed

The man chose a partner for his daughter by himself, and his censoriousness made her an old spinster, as “she got to be thirty and was still single” (Faulkner 4). The situation could change after the father’s death, but it did not happen because of combination of social factors. People believed they should feel pity for a woman, who has never been married in her thirties. This approach for commiseration deprived Emily from last opportunities to find a partner among citizens. The woman, who was behaved as a member of the high society, could not to stomach people’s readiness for the “joyous pity”. Citizens believed Grierson should become someone’s wife, like every woman, and destroyed her chances for marriage at the same