Love, arsenic, china painting, and death. These are the four important factors of Emily’s life in “A Rose For Emily” by William Faulkner. She was an introverted, simple minded and easy living woman with a servant named Tobe. She rarely left her house, and had odd ways of grieving. A Rose For Emily is heavily influenced by psychology because of Emily’s actions, her servants loyalty, and the mental states of the characters. In the story of “A Rose For Emily”, an unnamed character from the town Jefferson, where the story resides, is the narrator. It starts in present time, discussing how people reacted the main character, Emily, passing away. Being as many never stepped foot in her house, they ventured in, and were surprised at what they found. …show more content…
He was part of the construction company, and she had left the house for outings with this man. It was a shock for many people in town, because she didn’t leave. Although this was a nice change for the ill woman, the man was not as nice as she had thought. He was gay. He with younger men, and was described as a not marrying man. Faulkner did not show if Emily did or did not know of this, but if she had, it would be rightful to be jealous of the matters. She had arsenic, a rat poison in her possession, and it would be the best way to fix her issue. It was quiet, clean, and hands-free. Many thought she bought the arsenic to terminate herself, but between Homer drinking with younger men and possibly her two female cousins who visited causing disturbance in her plans, she could not let anything stop her from having this man for the rest of her life. She preserved his body in the bedroom upstairs, with “a men’s toilet set in silver with the letters H.B. on each piece”(p. …show more content…
Emily’s only interactions are with Homer, her servant, and Colonel Satoris. She refuses to put a numbered address on her house, or to have a sidewalk built on her property, because she is very stuck in her own ways. This could give an implication of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, because she has a very set order of how she does things. She will not change her order for anyone. She keeps her solid choice for arsenic, even if there are stronger poisons available. Colonel Satoris argues with her over taxes for years, yet she continuously ignores the forms she is given, and argues that she does not owe any, possibly because she owns that property, and does not leave her house often. Eventually, Colonel Satoris seems to give up, as the story transitions more into Emily’s life. The idea of Emily not being mentally stable may not be stated clearly because from a person who does not converse often with her may not see an issue with the women if she does not publically display her insanity, and when she was out in public, she did not seem deranged. Another point to express the possibility of obsessive compulsive disorder is that when Emily died, the servant, Tobe, left without a trace. This shows that he did not was associated with her death and could have been serving her involuntarily. Emily may have forced him to stay because he was set in her ways, and she did not want to deal with a new servant, regardless of age. Although an age was not listed
On the other hand, Emily never married and didn’t keep in touch with her extended family. In a simple terms she was a hermit, an introvert. Unlike Snopes, Emily has lost touch with reality and most did not learn from right from wrong. In her thirties, Emily met a construction foreman Homer Barron, yet she did not (or did not care) that Barron was a homosexual. Afraid of being alone, when the construction ended. She poisoned him with arsenic and left his decomposing corpse on the bed, in which she slept in for many
As a result, Miss Emily remains unmarried. This situation perhaps helps readers understand how Miss Emily is trying to cope of all the burden and pressures of great expectations that others have of her. While most individuals can handle this kind of stress, Miss Emily unfortunately is unable to develop healthy, adaptive coping mechanisms. Another glimpse of her character is when the sheriff office attempts to collect taxes, Emily tells them “see Colonel Sartoris” (33), who had been dead almost ten years. “I have no taxes in Jefferson” reasserts Emily (33). Despite many attempts to collect taxes, Emily simply continues to refuse to cooperate with the town authorities. This observation of Miss Emily's behavior is telling us how irrational and inappropriate she is when she interacts with other people. Another episode of her erratic behavior occurs when Judge Stevens, the new town mayor, receives several complaints from the neighbors that a powerful, terrible odor is originating from Emily’s property and ordered by the neighbors to “send her word to have her place cleaned up” (33). This is another hint that Emily is becoming separated from her community and is totally unable to relate to other people in an appropriate matter.
Another indicator if her mental illness comes with her father?s death. As her neighbors tried to offer condolences, she acted as if nothing had happened. She refused to acknowledge her father was dead. It took her three days to release his body to be buried. This cycle of her inability to accept death is continued through out the story. When the city officials came to Emily to collect taxes, she kept telling them to talk to Colonel Satoris, who at this point in time had been dead nearly ten years.
Miss Emily’s life was one of deep isolation and possible mental illness. The town’s people seemed to put her up on some sort of pedestal. Everyone in town was curious about her life, she hardly ever ventured out giving her a mysterious persona. The idea that Emily was some type of monument is perplexing since she didn’t interact with anyone other than her manservant.” People in our town, remembering how Old Lady Wyatt, her great-aunt, had gone completely crazy at last, believed the Griersons held themselves a little too high for what they really were.” (Norton, 806) Emily going to the drug store asking for poison, specifying arsenic and not furnishing a reason for it’s use was an example where she thought she was above everyone. Emily didn’t care about laws she just wanted what she wanted and people gave in because they pitied her. Eventually, you learn that her lover Homer Barron wouldn’t be one that the coroner would get out of the house like he was able to do with her father, which took three
After her father died, Emily rejects to accept his death for three days and this led her to having a mental break down. It took her a while to accept the fact that he actually had died and it makes sense too, because this is a man who had ruled her life and prevented her from starting any other kind of life. Emily and her father were
“A Rose for Emily”, written by William Faulkner, tells the story of a lonely woman who is stuck in her own timeframe. Miss Emily refuses to adapt to the new ways of the South and keeps her own traditions instead. The town she lived in spread much gossip about her, they pitted her lost soul. “A Rose for Emily” highlights the traditions of the Old South vs the New, which is told through the life of Miss Emily who refuses to change.
Emily was a very stubborn and hard headed woman throughout the story. In the beginning of the story, Emily was a young lady who lived at home with her father. He had no intentions of allowing any man to marry his daughter so any man who ever came to the house to call upon his daughter was ran off before they could even get one foot onto the porch.
At the end you find out she has been sleeping next to him all these years, denying to herself that he is a corpse and no longer her lover. The denial of reality can also be seen by the townspeople. They see her buying arsenic at the store and then Homer is last seen entering her house. Then, there is a bad smell reported coming from her house. Emily’s actions show us that she may have some problems deep within herself.
Emily comes from a family with high expectations of her a sort of “hereditary obligation” (30). Emily has been mentally manipulated by her as so indicated in the line of the story “we did not say she was crazy then we believed she had to do that we remember all the young men her father had driven away” (32). There is already proof of mental illness in the family “remembering how old lady Wyatt, her great aunt, had gone completely crazy last” (32).
The story "A Rose for Emily" is one of first William Faulkner’s publications. The action of this story takes place in a time filled with social and political turmoil, when Southern came into a historical lethargy, and when its glow start faded. The elements presented in "A Rose for Emily" make reference to that time and are a tribute to Mss. Emily Graiser. A dominant tone is shown by a footprint of the past and loneliness to which was added symbolism and melancholia. The author showed us through his words issue of life, love and death, a sensitivity which gets us closer of characters' life and struggles.
As any reader can see, " A Rose for Emily" is one of the most authentic short stories by Faulkner. His use of characterization, narration, foreshadowing, and symbolism are four key factors to why Faulkner's work is idealistic to all readers.
with no one save her servant. This caretaking of Emily by the town shows the opinion of
The medics tried to come to her to help her take the body from the house, but she rejected. The only love she knew was the love of her father so the passing of her father must have had an enormous impact on her. He was the only one in her life that was protective of her. Later, she broke down and let law enforcement come to the house to bury of his body properly. As a whole, Emily’s behavior throughout the whole story shows the audience that she might be mentally ill. After the death of her father, she held on to his body and was in denial that he was dead when the townspeople came to offer their condolences. After losing the most important man in her life, she found another man named Homer Barron. With the belief of them getting married, she proceeded to buy marital things such as a toilet set in silver with his initials engraved on
“A Rose for Emily” is a Southern Gothic short story written by William Faulkner. The main character, Miss Emily Grierson, has a story and personality that can be analyzed from many different viewpoints. Focusing more on the psychological perspective, Miss Emily is very erratic and idiosyncratic in behavior. She isolates herself in her home and locks up her house to prevent anyone from coming in. Her home hides many secrets, but the one that stands out the most is the corpse of Homer Barron, Miss Emily’s lover. For years, Miss Emily has lived and slept with the corpse, which was unknown for many years by all the townspeople. After this is discovered, Miss Emily’s mental health and stability became the main topic of interest to both the townspeople and the readers of this story.
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.