FREE ESSAY ON A ROSE FOR EMILY REPORT

A ROSE FOR EMILY REPORT

Society's Impact on Emily
The Reason the main character, Emily Grierson, in William Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily"
murdered her lover, Homer Barron, was a combined contribution of the society she lived
in.
The cousin's snootiness and high expectations of the Grierson family legacy made it
difficult for Emily and Homer to be together as a couple. "The two female cousins were
more Grierson than Miss Emily had ever been." (5) The cousins would keep Emily in line
because they were more aristrocatic, therefore forcing Emily into keeping the family name
pure by not being with a labor worker who often got drunk and liked men.
The cousins had a talk with Emily, which drove Homer out for a short period of time. For
fear of Homer leaving her, she ventured to the local pharmacy to purchase arsenic (then
used as rat poison) for what she believed might be the only way to keep the man she loved
from leaving her.
Emily's father scared all her suitors away, believing that she was too good for all of
them, which in turn left her single at a very old age. 
Emily's over-possessive, father traumatized her into believing that she would be alone
all of her life. "The 'Patrimony of a man' destroys Emily as her father smothers her with
over-protectiveness. He prevents her from courting anymore" (Internet 1). Her father
never gave her the opportunity of a happy, joyful family life, which every person
deserves. Her father never gave her the opportunity of a happy, joyful family life, which
every person deserves. When her father died and she found someone she liked, she
instantly became attached to this man and was not willing to let him go.
"Emily decides she will be vindictive, she will have her man"(Internet 2). Emily chose
the first man possible in a sort of way to lash back at the father who never allowed her
to have what she desired the most, companionship. With her father now deceased, she had
complete freedom in choosing and keeping any suitor she found acceptable. Having never
had the opportunity, Emily had no concept of how to treat and be a companion to the
opposite sex. This would explain the unbreakable attachment to the first man who came
along, Homer Barron. In a way she took what she could get at that moment thinking that
there might never be another chance for her again, therefore she settled for Homer
Barron.
All of the town's pity, gossip, and assumptions about Emily and her family brought on
more stress and insanity about keeping the Grierson name aristocratic and clean. In
essence, she was living up to the family standards set by that of her local society. "Her
father and the townsfolk that see her as an untouchable idol perpetrate this dementia;
the loneliness that they force her to endure is maddening" (Internet 1). At times the
town felt sorrow for her and had thoughts of consoling her but never actually put them
into action. They always let her endure everything she was suffering on her own. Although
they no longer had any reason to be, the women of the town still felt a pang of jealousy
towards her family aristocracy and history. The women, to satisfy their own consciences,
acted as if they actually felt sympathy for Emily, where in all honesty, not a single one
cared for her in any way. The town merely wanted to put up a false front.
Homer Baron, who was very inconsiderate and casual about her past, contributed to his own
murder. Homer Barron was a bi-sexual, Yankee, drunk who was going to leave her after he
had his way with her. She knew this from the town's gossip and she was growing more and
more insecure about Homer. "We can imagine, however the outcome might have been had Homer
Barron, who was not the marrying man, succeeded, in the town's eyes, in seducing her and
then deserting her." (Short Story criticisms 150) Homer was seen drinking at the bar with
men and it was known that he was interested in men. Homer was never really intending to
stay long term with Emily. He was just a passer by who was only there for road
construction. "And when she lost him she could see that for her that was the end of life,
there was nothing left except to grow older, alone, solitary." (Internet 2) The thing she
feared the most was being alone with no companion. Emily had endured all of this from her
father too long and she was not going to stand for this. 
Emily's Insanity and loneliness drove her to murder her lover and keep him in a room
where she could rest at ease that he would never leave her. "Denied a normal Romantic and
sexual life, Emily becomes unable to distinguish between reality and illusion" (Modern
fiction stories 687). She was to the point where to her having a dead lover was more
secure to her than having a live one who might leave her at any moment. She wanted
security and she obtained it by killing Homer and sleeping with him every night. She
wanted to keep time still. Emily had a problem with time. "Emily's small room above the
stairs has become that timeless meadow. In it, the living Emily and the dead Homer have
remained together not even death could separate them."(Short Story Criticism 150) Even
when her father died she was unwilling to accept his departure. She refused to have him
buried.