How Does Faulkner Present Miss Emily Grierson's Life

Emily comes from a traditional Southern family; they would not expect her to have interest in a Northerner. This can be seen by the quote, "Of course a Grierson would not think seriously of a Northerner, a day laborer." Additionally, the quote, “Miss Emily with her head high and Homer Barron with his hat cocked and a cigar in his teeth, reins and whip in a yellow glove.” compares Emily being a lady and Homer being described as a disgrace to the town. Homer is described as “ big, dark, ready man, with a big voice and eyes lighter than his face”, while emily is described as “a slender figure in white in the background”. This alone shows differences between the Northerners and the

“A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner tells the tale of Emily Grierson’s murder of her lover Homer Barron. Both Emily and the town of Jefferson were in denial of Emily having killed her lover, Homer Barron. This is demonstrated by the following threes aspects: first, the town chose to disregard the connection between Emily’s previous behaviour of keeping her father’s body when he died and the disappearance of Homer. Secondly, the nonlinear narrative and the reactions of the town towards Emily after Homer’s disappearance demonstrate the town’s understanding of Homer’s murder. Third, Emily murdered Homer because she could not accept the possibility of him leaving her.

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

The progression of Emily’s insanity and twisted perception of reality is also seen in her relationship with Homer Baron. When Homer Baron comes to town after her father’s death, Emily attaches herself to him. Even though the townspeople are shocked that Emily is going on carriage rides with “a Northerner, a day laborer” (83), no one says anything to her despite their concerns: that “even grief could not cause a real lady to forget nobles oblige” (83). The saying “Poor Emily” (83) starts circulating among the townspeople along with the references to the fact that “old lady Wyatt, (Emily’s) … great-aunt, had gone completely crazy” (82). The townspeople seem concerned about Emily and state that they believe “her kinfolk should come to her” (83) to remind her of who she is. Meanwhile, Emily continues to carry “her head high… [and demands] more than ever, the recognition of her dignity as [being] the last Grierson” (83). Everyone in town knows that Homer has stated that “he liked men …. and was not the marrying kind” (84). Yet Emily continues to see Homer Baron [and] goes so far as to order him a “toilet set in silver, with the letters H. B. on each piece

The town’s people only saw Tobe; her servant as he ran an errand for her but never speaking a word about her. At this point, the town’s people thinks she is depressed and weak but she is far from that. The next time they see Miss Emily her features have changed some. “When we saw her again, her hair was cut short, making her look like a girl, with a vague resemblance to those angels in colored church windows—sort of tragic and serene” (Faulkner, par 29). During this time in her life, she meets Homer Barron, a Yankee who is a foreman with a construction company that has a contract with the city to pave their roads. This will be the second and last man that has entered her life and filled it with a love she craves. Homer and Emily form a romantic relationship. The town people are thrilled at the relationship in spite of the reality that the ladies and elders disliked the union between them, saying, “Of course a Grierson would not think seriously of a Northerner, a day laborer” (Faulkner, par 31). Meaning because of her status she should be involved with someone more privileged; but Emily didn’t care, the fact that she had someone in her life made things better for her. She wasn’t alone. At the time Miss Emily is in love, remember the only love she has known was the love between a father and a daughter. Now the love between a man and a woman was something new to

However, the story portrays Emily Grierson as a fallen victim to her father and society. Her overprotective and domineering father had prevented Emily from dating with the opposite sex in the past. Moreover, the Jefferson’s society continued to dictate its rules, “Of course a Grierson would not think seriously of a Northerner, a day laborer,” and “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” (519). While she was dating Homer Barron, the Jefferson’s society interfered, and “the minister’s wife wrote to Miss Emily’s relations in Alabama, so she had blood-kin under her roof again and we sat back to watch

Furthermore, Homer Barron is a constructional Yankee, whom does Miss Emily murder due to the fact that she loved him. She wanted to be the only woman he loved instead of being a womanizer. Miss Emily murdered Homer because she clenches on to the near fact that he could never love her since “he [is] not a marrying man,” he is happy enough to be a playboy man (Faulkner 6). She refuses to let another man leave her, because she is never truly loved nor married. Mr. Grierson’s body is held captive for 3 days, “doctors trying to persuade her to let them dispose of [her father’s] body,” the one man that she loved would be gone forever (4). Not trying to lose another man in her life she chooses to murder Homer Barron. He affects Miss Emily by showing her love and she wants to contain that

Homer Barron was a blatant homosexual, and the whole town knew it. Even though Miss Emily must’ve known this, she still pursues this man. The reader can see that once again the town feels terrible for Miss Emily because Homer has made it clear he is not the marrying type, as he likes to drink with young men (156). They feel bad for her, but no one seems to want to help her. Homer Barron disappears and the reader later learns that he has been laid to rest in Miss Emily’s home while she slept next to him.

They are interested but fearful to get involved in someone's life that is troubled or different than theirs. The townspeople's curiosity is shown through their inquiries about the smell at Emily's house, the watching of the comings and goings of Tobe, who is Emily's Negro servant, and their observing the buggy rides that Emily is having with Homer. Despite the curiosity of the residents, not one of them reaches out a compassionate hand to Emily. While the townspeople choose to stay on the outer circle of human contact, Homer, on the other hand, pursues his curiosity and engages in a personal friendship with Emily. Faulkner tells the reader how Homer takes Emily for buggy rides and, according to the townspeople, has been seen going into Emily's house. Homer has really stirred up the gossips of the town as they discuss whether or not it is proper for Emily to so closely relate to a Northerner, who is considered below her social class. While Homer develops a relationship with Emily, he does not realize what emotional state Emily is in and does not offer the help this poor distraught lady so desperately needs. Homer, knowingly or not, misses an opportunity to change Emily's life forever. Faulkner may be suggesting that just being involved in someone's life casually falls short of how human beings should be involved in others' lives.

So the summer after her father’s death, the town contracts workers to pave the sidewalks, and a construction company, under the direction of northerner Homer Barron, is awarded the job. Homer becomes a popular figure in town because the town have seen him taking Emily on rides on Sunday afternoons, which scandalizes the town and increases the condescension and pity they have for Emily. They feel that she is forgetting her family pride and becoming involved with a man beneath her class. The town people always had something to say about her because one she’s not married at her age and her father was too controlling and he chased away all her suitors. Now there is a man in her life and they are thinking that she’s going to settle down and get

Second, Homer’s love is insincere. He stays with Emily on Sunday afternoons (Chapter 3), but he is not a marrying man (It can be argued whether he is homosexual). Though aware that for a woman over 30, it is deadly to be unmarried, he is not willing to sacrifice for his ‘love’ (if there is any), and does not offer the commitment to avoid responsibility. Dating with Emily is only one of those games for him.

Initially the townspeople are horrified by their coupling, but gradually they come to accept Homer as a good choice for Miss Emily, perhaps as a matter of necessity. (Mosby) Charmaine interprets the story as only having a minor social criticism, however, she further reinforces my opinion with her thoughts above. “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 325)

In section four, the narrator describes the horror that some of the townspeople have that Emily will use the poison to kill herself. The women of the town begin saying that her riding around in the buggy with Homer Barron, with no intent of marriage, was a "Disgrace to the town and a bad example to the young people" (413). The Baptist minister called upon her, but left and declined to return and a week later his wife wrote to Miss Emily's family in Alabama. Her family from Alabama came to her, even though there had been a diminishing relationship. Emily orders a silver toilet set in-scripted with Homer’s initials and bought a complete set of men’s clothing including a nightgown. This sparks wedding bells in the townspeople’s head and talk of marriage starts again. The townspeople thought that "The two female cousins were even more

Her first appearance of insanity when her father died, since he was the only one that closed to her so she refused to accept that he's dead: "She told them that her father was not dead. She did that for three days, with the ministers calling on her, and the doctors, trying to persuade her to let them dispose of the body." (page 486) Later when Emily met Homer Barron, "a Yankee - a big, dark, ready man, with a big voice and eyes lighter than his face." (page 487), she fell in love with him. However, people thought that it is a disgrace to the town and a bad example to the young people because they Emily was a Southerner while Homer was a Northerner and also a laborer: "Of course a Grierson would not think seriously of a Northerner, a day laborer." (page 487) Because of all the rejecting from the people in town and her relatives that pushed her to the edge and into insanity, Emily did what she could to stay with her lover even kill him.

With rumors of a romantic relationship between Homer and Emily, the townspeople’s first reaction was to reject the notion as folly. The women of the town speculate that a “Grierson would not think seriously of a Northerner, a day laborer” while the town elders believed that Emily would be unable to forget the “noblesse oblige”: the obligations of the higher class (Faulkner 311). In the eyes of the town, it would be improper for a woman of such high class to intermingle with a man of lower class. This, along with his affiliation with the Yankees, results in the town turning against Homer, despite his seemingly agreeable personality. Homer and Emily’s relationship created changes to the status quo. In turn these changes resulted in the summoning of Emily’s sister from Alabama; this decision, later regretted by the town, was a last ditch effort to preserve the conventional order of class within Jefferson. Despite the criticism Emily receives, she chooses to continue in her pursuit of Homer, demonstrating her continued indifference to the opinions of those around her, a benefit available to her because of her social class.