Emily Grierson's Character Analysis

Emily’s father, as well as the people of Jefferson, had always pressured Emily to marry. Her father was never able to find a match for her though, and he eventually passed. Emily then met Homer Barron, a contract worker for the town. They begin to see each other more often, and the townspeople are shocked that Emily would lower herself to being with a man of low class. This shows a bit of irony, in that there has always been pressure for Emily to marry, yet when she finally meets a man she loves, people think she is wrong in her decision. Another piece of irony in this relationship, comes after Emily dies. The body of Homer Barron is found in the attic of Emily’s home. Next to the body are signs that Emily had been sleeping next the corpse. It can be assumed that Emily did murder Homer with the arsenic she had purchased earlier in the story. It

In her mind she is wanting to find someone who she could spend the rest of her life with but Homer is just wanting a fling and not a commitment. This is something that the citizens of Jefferson will worry about, as they feel that they must look after Emily since her father passing. The townspeople are like her parents and feel like it is in their best interest to look after her. This could make the reader show sympathy for Emily, rather than disliking her.

In fact, the story opens from the first-person plural “When Miss Emily Grierson died, our whole town went to her funeral: the men through a sort of respectful affection for a fallen monument, the women mostly out of curiosity to see the inside of her house, which no one save an old man-servant—a combined gardener and cook—had seen in at least ten years.” (Section 1-1) Instead of using facts through direct observation, personal relationships or hands on experience; gossip, hearsay and rumors are used to tell the story. For example, the townspeople speculate on Emily’s relationship with Homer; “At first we were glad that Miss Emily would have an interest, because the ladies all said, “Of course a Grierson would not think seriously of a Northerner, a day laborer.” (Section 3-31) Another example, is the narrator's portrayal of Homer as a homosexual or an eternal bachelor. “Then we said, "She will persuade him yet," because Homer himself had remarked – he liked men, and it was known that he drank with the younger men in the Elks' Club – that he was not a marrying man.” (Section 4-43) There’s also the matter of the poison; “So the next day we all said, “She will kill herself”; and we said it would be the best thing.” (Section 4-43) Then there’s Homer’s disappearance; “And that was the last

Littered throughout the story is evidence that the murder took place. When Emily takes up with Homer Barron, a man whom the narrator makes clear was not the marrying kind; rumors start to fly about the two at a time when it was not considered proper for a man and woman to live together. The town, her relatives, and the Baptist minister disapproved of the relationship, and Emily was in danger of loosing Homer. A year after the relationship begins, and the pressures to either marry

Faulkner has characterized all the characters in the best possible way. Emily Grierson, Homer Barron, Judge Stevens – the mayor of Jefferson, Mr. Grierson – Emily’s father, Tobe – Emily’s servant, and Colonel Sartoris – a former mayor of Jefferson are the major charters in the story. The narrator describes Emily as a monument, but with a lot of negativity. The story shows us how she was a smart young girl and then how she end up being an overprotective and secretive old woman. She refused to accept the change when her father died and that’s why she kept telling all the people in town that her father is still alive. Homer Barron is much like Emily. Like Emily, Homer is an outsider and becomes the topic of gossip. The narrator describes Homer as a big man with dark complexion with a good sense of humor. Tobe’s character in the story plays an important role. He is a loyal and dutiful servant. He cared for Emily till she died, but he walked out of the back door and never returned after Emily’s death. Mr. Grierson was a well-maintained person. When he was alive, Emily’s house was always beautifully maintained. He earned a lot of respect in the society but when he died the respect towards his family died with him.

Emily Grierson, referred to as Miss Emily throughout the story, is the main character of 'A Rose for Emily,' written by William Faulkner. Emily is born to a proud, aristocratic family sometime during the Civil War; Miss Emily used to live with her father and servants, in a big decorated house. The Grierson Family considers themselves superior than other people of the town. According to Miss Emily's father none of the young boys were suitable for Miss Emily. Due to this attitude of Miss Emily's father, Miss Emily was not able to develop any real relationship with anyone else, but it was like her world revolved around her father.

Culture is also important to the setting in the story being told. Miss Emily was a Grierson. The high and might Grierson’s as they were known in Jefferson. Faulkner talks about how “Miss Emily had gone to join the representatives of the august names where they lay in a cedar-bemused cemetery among the ranked and anonymous graves of the union and confederate soldiers who fell at the battle of Jefferson.” By describing this culture setting Faulkner is setting the tone for what kind of character Emily is, and what kind of family she had. The Grierson’s were a powerful family in Jefferson, royalty if you will, and Emily was the last of this great family.

Miss Emily was a dynamic character because she changed and became withdrawn from the people in her community over the course of the story. In the exposition, she is a prominent and active figure in her community. Her character changed as she encountered the tragedy of her father’s death. However, she still was spotted occasionally by the townspeople. Faulkner shows this by declaring, “She carried her head high enough- even when we believed that she was fallen. It was as if she demanded more than ever the recognition of her dignity as the last Grierson; as if it had wanted that touch of earthiness to reaffirm her imperviousness” (Faulkner 36-37). After Homer’s disappearance, Miss Emily became a true introvert. The author supports this idea when he states, “After her father’s death she went out very little; after her sweetheart went away, people hardly saw her at all” (Faulkner 34). The townspeople noticed changes

It is a fact, that the narrator makes judgments both for and against the protagonist and also present outsides observations when he stays “Alive, Miss Emily had been a tradition , a duty , and a care ; a sort of hereditary obligation upon the town “(Faulkner,82) being this to emphasize the responsibility that the people of the town felt whit her and stays also his point pf view in the situation . The narrator is sympathetic to Miss Emily, never condemning her actions. Sometimes unabashedly and sometimes grudgingly, the narrator admires her ability to use her aristocratic bearing in order to vanquish the members of the city and an example is when she go to buy the arsenic and the druggist ask her to tell him for what she is going to use it ,and she just look him eye to eye and the man go and give her the arsenic without ask her anything else . As we could see it is hard to determine the gender of the narrative voice because is talking as the people and never use a word for describe himself . He uses the words “we” and “they” and changes it continuously because he does not want to be involved in all the things the community did and he is blaming the community for Emily’s behavior. Faulkner uses the perfect kind of narrator for develop his genre , a mysterious and creepy narrative voice to develop

“Who is the narrator? Not a single person because Faulkner uses a first- person plural point of view, "we"; that "we" is townspeople, but only such as are in position to watch Miss Emily constantly for fifty or sixty years; they are anonymous townspeople, for neither names nor sexes nor occupations are given” (Sullivan, 160).

The short story “I Stand Here Ironing” (1961) by Tillie Olsen is a touching narration of a mother trying to understand and at the same time justifying her daughter’s conduct. Frye interprets the story as a “meditation of a mother reconstructing her daughter’s past in an attempt to express present behavior” (Frye 287). An unnamed person has brought attention and concern to her mother expressing, “‘She’s a youngster who needs help and whom I’m deeply interested in helping’” (Olsen 290). Emily is a nineteen-year-old complex girl who is atypical, both physically and in personality.

The townspeople felt bad for Emily and thought the reason for her craziness was because her family had a history of it. Emily also waits three days before revealing the death of her father. Emily allows the dead body of her father to lie in her home rotting away. Another crazy action that Emily does is when she goes to the pharmacy to purchase “rat poison”. When Emily goes to buy the arsenic she doesn’t tell the druggist what exactly she is going to use it for, but stares him down making him feel uncomfortable. “Miss Emily just stared at him, her head tilted back in order to look him eye for eye, until he looked away and went and got the arsenic and wrapped it up” (213). One of the most extreme actions Emily performs is being responsible for Homer Barron’s death. But, after fully reading the story the reader understands that Emily not only kills Homer but sleeps with his corpse. “What was left of him, rotted beneath what was left of the nightshirt, had become inextricable from the bed in which he lay… Then we noticed that in the second pillow was the indentation of a head. One of us lifted something from it, and leaning forward, that faint and invisible dust dry and acrid in the nostrils, we saw a long strand of iron-gray hair” (215) There the reader’s thought of Emily sleeping with the dead body and her psychotic tendencies is confirmed.

Faulkner uses a metaphor in which he states, “When Miss Emily died, our whole town went to her funeral: the men through a sort of respectful affection for a fallen monument” (Faulkner). Faulkner describes her as a fallen monument due to the fact she was the last memory the town had prior to her death. Isolation is a major theme amongst this story because Faulkner presents this theme through Emily through her stubbornness. Because Emily is interpreted as a very stubborn individual, she doesn’t allow the townspeople to enter her home thus creating her isolated and excluded from the townspeople. Emily states, “‘I have no taxes in Jefferson. Colonel Sartoris explained it to me. Perhaps one of you gain access to the city records and satisfy yourselves.’ ‘But we have. We are the city authorities, Miss Emily. Didn’t you get a notice from the sheriff, signed by him?’ ‘I have received a paper, yes,’ Miss Emily said. ‘Perhaps he considers himself the sheriff…. I have no taxes in Jefferson’” (Faulkner). Emily repeatedly denied having any taxes in Jefferson, exhibiting persistence in the midst of this argument. Another major influence of society’s isolation in the story is in regards to Homer Barron. Homer was a man that Emily had previously known, but he was derived from a different class. Both Homer and Emily are outcasts due to the fact that their lifestyles aren’t accepted as a part of their society. For example, “At first, we were glad that Miss Emily would have an interest, because the ladies all said, ‘Of course a Grierson would not think seriously of a Northerner, a day laborer’” (Faulkner). Formerly, the community felt empathy for Emily’s interest in Homer,

Another thing that might have contributed to Miss Emily’s motive was all of the gossip about her. In the small town of Jefferson, there was an abundant amount of gossip. Miss Emily was a main topic of that town gossip. When Miss Emily’s relationship with Homer Barron began, many of the townspeople looked down on the relationship. Scherting asserted that “Miss Emily’s conduct during the time baffled the people of Jefferson” (401). At this time the women were held to certain standards. Miss Emily was meeting none of the standards that the time

Another important character from the story is Homer Barron, a man who develops an interest in Miss Emily, “Presently we began to see him and Miss Emily on Sunday afternoons driving in the yellow-wheeled buggy and the matched team of bays from the livery stable” (519). According to the story, it seems that the whole town was thinking they would get married: “She will marry him” “She will persuade him yet” (520). However, Miss Emily ends up killing Homer by poisoning him. There seems to be two reasons why she did it. One is that she wanted to marry him, but it appears he refused. The other one is that he might be homosexual: “he liked men, and it was known that he drank with the younger men in the Elk’s Club, that he was not a marrying man” (520). All these speculations about the principal characters Emily and Homer have one questioning what the narrator’s intention towards them was really. “The narrator wants to trap us in the speculations made about Emily’s and Homer’s characters by making us believe that Emily will kill herself or that Homer is homosexual” (Wallace). He might be right on this statement because this is what one is most likely thinking about through the reading.