Rose for Emily

The Wonders of Why In the short story, “A Rose For Emily” written by William Faulkner, Emily Grierson ultimately killed Homer for eternal love and the fact she needed a man to depend on since she did her whole life. Everyone has heard the crazy things that people do for love, but some boundaries are broken with ridiculous cases of death being the solution. For example, Romeo and Juliet had to go to the extreme of death for love, but in this short story by Faulkner, death forces Homer to have an early retirement and settle down with Emily. There are many reasons why Emily killed Homer, but for the most part she did it to not be lonely, to have someone to love her forever, and the fear that she would lose another man since her father recently passed away. Emily had depended on her father her whole life. It seemed as if the moment he passed away she was in denial and could not accept that fact that he was dead. One example that shows Emily is claiming that her father is not dead is when Faulkner writes what happened when the women of the town go to visit Emily, “ The day after his death all the ladies prepared to… offer condolence and aid, as is our custom. Miss Emily met them at the door, dressed as usual and with no trace of grief on her face. She told them that her father was not dead.” (Faulkner 93). This quote clearly shows Emily cannot accept the fact that father is dead. Homer is the man that comes into her life right after her dad passes away. This leads the reader to believe that once Ms. Emily gets somewhat attached to Homer that she will not be able to let him go for any reason. She kills homer before he has a chance to leave due to the fact of how crazily attached she is to any man in her life. The example proving Ms. Emily is the person who kills Homer is when Faulkner explains that Emily wants something lethal, “ ‘ I want some poison…’I want the best you have. I don’t care what kind’.” (Faulkner 94). She later claims that she wants poison, but the question that the reader should have is what does she want the poison for and why does she not care the type she receives other than that is it the best. Emily receives the strongest poison that Faulkner describes as strong enough to, “… kill anything up to an elephant.” (94) Many people in the story “A Rose For Emily” are curios to what happens to Homer since they don’t know much about Emily. Most of the residents in Jefferson suspect that she murdered him when she died. One of the most obvious example, proving Miss Emily is responsible for Homer Barron death is revealed at the end of the story when Faulkner writes,“ Then we noticed that in the second pillow was the indentation of the head…[ and ] a long strand of iron gray hair” ( Faulkner 96). When they find Homers body as nothing excpet bones ,that leads them to believe that homer was murdered. Right next to the body the grey hair was found and by that time Miss Emily had grey hair. Love may be the conqueror of all battles within ones self. Obviously for Emily the fact and fear of being alone because she loved Homer led her to become a murderer. She was scared that she may lose another man she loved due to her father passing away. Before he has the chance to leave or make any attempt other than what Miss Emily wants she kills him. She not only kills him, but still believes she has him with her because she lays with him every night.

MLA Citation
Faulkner, William. A Rose for Emily. Copyright 1930,1958 ed. New York: Random House/Vintage, 1931. Print. short story (7 pp.)