FREE ESSAY ON A ROSE FOR EMILY

A ROSE FOR EMILY

"A Rose for Emily"
In William Faulkner's short story, "A Rose for Emily," the main character, Emily
Grierson, is a woman completely isolated from her town. She has grown up her whole life
in the same house, with the same butler, and primarily the company of only her father.
Emily's family had been wealthy; however after the civil war their money had run short.
As the story progresses it is revealed that Emily may be living a stranger life than
Faulkner allows the reader to see. Faulkner uses elements of the view the townspeople
have and their gossip about Emily, Emily's relationship with her father along with family
history, and her relationship with Homer Baron to explain her actions. 
Throughout the story, the gossip from the town informs the reader of their view of
Emily's life. It seemed as if no one in the town had anything interesting in their lives,
and lived through the gossip of Emily. Throughout Emily's life, all of the people in the
town pitied her, estranging her from the community. Her house was in the center of town
and was "an eyesore among eyesores" ever since the revolution. As Emily grew older she
became stubborn and still believed she did not have to pay taxes and she did not. This
further outkasted her from the town, and allowed for further ridicule and gossip to
circulate. The gossip leads the reader to believe that Emily's strange ways are in part
her father's doings, and might explain why she committed these heinous acts. Emily did
not have the individual confidence, or self-esteem to believe that she could stand-alone
and succeed at life, especially while the outside world was changing and she was not. She
had always allowed the men in her life to rule her.
Throughout Emily's life, her father was very strict and required her to stay home much of
the time. He also did not allow her to date men; therefore when Emily finally found a man
she grew so attached that it was impossible to let him go. Townspeople remember seeing
"Miss Emily a slender figure in white in the background, her father a spraddled
silhouette in the foreground, his back to her and clutching a horsewhip," this was an
indication of his strictness and her long isolation. The townspeople believed this to be
part of the reason for her craziness, leaving the rest to the Grierson family history of
growing crazy with age. "When her father died, it got about that the house was all that
was left to her; and in a way, people were glad being left alone. She had become
humanized." By the time her father died she had lost many years and this greatly
depressed her. As a result, Emily flocked to the first attempt at being "isolated" with
another person, whom she chose. This is where Homer Barron comes into the story.
Homer Barron fits the role of a new person perfect for Emily. He did not know of the town
gossip and this was at the advantage of Emily. She immediately grew very close to Homer
and almost forced him into her life. When Emily's cousins moved into the house that Emily
had lived in her whole life, the people in the town noticed that Homer Barron was gone.
Some comments were made that he had left until Emily's family got out of there, and
others said that "he had gone on to prepare for Miss Emily's coming." Meanwhile the
townspeople talked of Homer being gay because he himself "had remarked - he liked men,
and it was known that he drank with the younger men in the Elk's Club." Emily grew
fearful of Homer's departure, fear of being left alone once again. As a result Emily took
the most extreme measure in order to indefinitely keep him in her life forever. Emily
went to the store and bought some poison. The people in the town spoke that Emily was
going to kill herself; however they were in for a big surprise, for when Homer returned
"a neighbor saw the Negro man admit him at the kitchen door at dusk one evening. And
that's the last we saw of Homer Barron."
Only entry in to the old house and the blocked off room would truly reveal the secrets of
Miss Emily Grierson. Because of her seclusion no one really knew how bad the situation
was. It was not until Miss Emily herself passed away that the town got a true
explanation. Locked away in the upstairs room they found Emily's "rose." Upon knocking
down the door they found a dust filled room "upon the valance curtains of faded rose
color, upon the rose-shaded lights," they found a man laying among many belongings and
next to it the indention of a head in the pillow with a "long strand of iron-gray hair."
So now the town had closure on the life Emily had been living. Each of the contributing
factors, the towns gossip, her fathers strictness, and her relationship with Homer, all
help to come to the conclusion of this strange tale. If it were not for the combinations
of such a lifestyle and surrounding pressures, Emily may have never turned out the way
that she did, therefore her actions were explained by her personal history and society in
which she lived.