The Grieving Process In William Faulkner's A Rose For Emily

“After her father’s death she went out very little, after her sweetheart went away, people hardly saw her at all” (Faulkner 805). Miss Emily was an interesting character that is commonly associated with death and isolation. According to Willow D. Crystal, William Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily" suggests that there is a tension between what is private and what is public. I agree, but I would add that the character of Miss Emily emphasizes the isolation and death themes that Faulkner attempts to achieve.

When describing the relationship between Emily and her father, he portrays her as “a slender figure in the white background,” inferior to her father who is “a spraddled silhouette in the foreground, [with] his back [always] to her, and clutching a horsewhip” (Faulkner 77). Faulkner’s depiction of Emily’s father proposes the idea that he is a powerful figure who always speaks for Emily, not allowing her to have a say in anything. As a result, the town then thinks that Emily is just like her father, when in reality, she is just a misunderstood individual in the community. Faulkner sees that Emily is not accepted or understood in the town, so he names the story “A Rose for Emily,” as a tribute to her for enduring the harsh gossip of the community for so many years. Through the title, Faulkner provides Emily with a voice that is necessary to show that she should be treated as a lady with dignity and respect, despite everything she has done. He demonstrates his pity for her by portraying Emily as a tragedy, who can not do anything about all the hardships she is faced with. Much unlike the views of the town, Faulkner regards Emily as a lady who is tragic, but nonetheless deserves to be regarded with respect and

“Alive, Miss Emily had been a tradition, a duty, and a care; a sort of hereditary obligation upon the town” (Faulkner 1). Emily, a member of the town’s elite class, relied upon her father when growing up and after his death, she refused to pay her taxes, stating that her father contributed much to society. But it was evident that she didn’t pay them because of a lack of maturity - financially and socially. When she was younger she pushes herself onto Homer Barron, a Northerner with no interest in marriage. Throughout the story, Emily is conflicted over societal change, and clings to her privileged manner even after finding herself in poverty. Yet, she becomes involved with a man from a lower social class, and a Northerner as well - hinting that he has different beliefs and values. The townspeople, however, believe the relationship it too modern when there is a possibility they are having physical relations despite not being serious about marriage. The community’s inability to commit to progress, contribute to the confused Emily’s decision. In A Rose for Emily, Faulkner uses the symbolism of Emily’s house and her hair to demonstrate her emotional instability and physical deterioration, illustrating the outcome of his story.

Miss Emily's relationship with her father is a key factor in the development of her isolation. As she is growing up, he will not let anybody around his daughter,

Emily was obsessed with holding on to the past and to avoid change. When her father dies she is really sad. She then meets a man named Homer Barron. She is afraid she will lose him too because he is not the kind of guy to settle down. So if she kills him she could at least still be able to see him after he is dead because she will keep his dead body in her house. By her keeping the body in the house it shows she had a hard time of letting go. Emily kills because of her extreme love.

Her relationship with her father is a total mystery, however it’s well implied that their relationship was more than the typical normal father and daughter relationship. For this reason the community wasn’t at all shocked that Emily was single and turning thirty. In denial about her father’s death, she refused to le the townspeople remove the body for three days. Once she met Homer Barron, Emily begins an undesirable affair. Many of the town people were happy she was with someone. Though it is soon found that Homer played for the other team, Emily goes to the pharmacist for poison, it is then that the townspeople think that she will kill herself. After buying the arsenic, the next time they see her it’s stated, “she had grown fat and her hair was turning gray” (Faulkner 521). This perhaps the result of Homer Barron’s murder and the loss of her dad. At seventy four years old, Emily died in her home “She died in one of the downstairs rooms, in a heavy walnut bed with a curtain, her gray head propped on a pillow yellow and moldy with age and lack of sunlight” (Faulkner 521). The major plot twist is that the townspeople find Homer Barron in a bedroom upstairs, lying in a lover’s embrace, with the indentation of a head upon the pillow next to him and one “long strand of iron gray hair” (Faulkner 522). Ms. Emily is “jilted” by the death of her father and Homer Barron leaving her. Since her father isolated her so well

Initially after the loss of her father Emily Grierson refuses to let go of him and the influence he has over her in “A Rose for Emily”. Emily’s father was a big part of her existence he was the only man in her life. For years he had ran off suitor that had called upon Emily. Once he was gone it is hard for her to adapt to life without him. She refuses to believe that he is dead telling the ladies of the town “that her father was not dead” (101). She had been very close to her father and without him her live would not be the same. She never leaves the house she stays secluded from the town. By remaining alone she will not have to face the fact that any change has taken place.

Emily did not seem to be in a state of distress. While the neighbors attempted to console Emily after her father’s death, “Miss Emily met them at the door, dressed as usual and with no trace of grief on her face” (Faulkner 54). After this passage the reader can clearly understand that Emily is mentally unstable. While Emily’s hair becomes grey, stress takes over her life. Miss Emily never came out of her once beautiful home; she finally opened her house seven years following her lover’s disappearance to bestow lessons in china-painting.

Faulkner states that Miss Emily would tell the other people 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. Just as they were about to resort to law and force, she broke down, and they buried her father quickly,'' (Faulkner 804). This part of the story foreshadows another incident where Emily again refuses to let go of the deceased. Instead of Emily not being able to let go of her father, this time she couldn't let go of her close friend, Homer. The hint of Emily not being able to let go of her father in the beginning serves as an indication for the reader that Miss Emily is very isolated and will do anything to prevent that. Emily’s suspicious actions causes the reader to anticipate certain happenings and wonder what will happen next.

Emily had depression and was dealing with it in her own way by closing herself off. Looks could be very deceiving and in this case, Emily surprised the town when she died. The townspeople realized that there was more to her than they thought and were quick to judge.

The story “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner illustrates a lonely woman who lives far from reality based on her world of imagination and misery. The author depicts the entire life of the protagonist who rejects society being dependent on her personal imagination which harms her nature. The plot immerses the reader into the primary events including the background of Emily’s life with appropriate consequences which cause her psychological instability. In such a way, the author focuses on the theme of isolation as it negatively affects the emotional and physical state of the protagonist who cannot oppose cruelty and injustice of her destiny. Death becomes an integral part of the protagonist’s life as it chases the woman during many years

In William Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily," Emily becomes a minor legend during her lifetime. After her death, when her secret is revealed, hers becomes a story that no one can forget. "A Rose for Emily" is the story of the old maid who fell in love with a northerner, but resisted being jilted once too often. And only after her death, "When the curious towns people were able to enter her house at last, did they discover that she had kept her dead lover in the bed where she had killed him after their last embrace." (Kazin 162) . "In her bedroom, Emily and the dead Homer have remained together as though not even death could separate them."(Kazin 162) . Even though her lover had

In “A Rose for Emily”, William Faulkner uses imagery and symbolism to both illustrate and strengthen the most prevalent theme; Emily’s resistance to change. William Faulkner seems to reveal this theme through multiple descriptions of Miss Grierson’s actions, appearance, and her home. Throughout the short story it is obvious that Emily has a hard time letting go of her past, she seems to be holding onto every bit of her past. Readers see this shown in several ways, some more obvious than others.

Emily is destroyed by her father's over-protectiveness. He prevents her from courting anyone as "none of the young men were quite good enough for Miss Emily and such" (82). When her father dies, Emily refuses to acknowledge his death; "[W]ith nothing left, she . . . [had] to cling to that which had robbed her" (83). When she finally begins a relationship after his death, she unfortunately falls for Homer

In William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” the story is revolved around the character Emily Grierson. The story is told by the townspeople where Emily lives. These people are attending her funeral and pitching in memories and tales they remember from Emily’s life. It is through the collective voices and opinions of the crowd that the reader is able to interpret Emily’s struggles. With Emily Grierson’s choices the reader can tell that she is a dependant woman, with psychotic tendencies, and does not take the thought of change and rejection lightly.