A Rose For Emily Grierson

William Faulkner’s story “A Rose for Emily” creates the vivid and fascinating character of Miss Emily Grierson, a seventy four years old spinster. Over the course of the story, the reader learns about Miss Emily’s eccentric behavior. Her behavior culminates with her murder of Homer Barron, keeping him in her house and sleeping with him. Miss Emily is impacted psychologically in several ways such as the expectations society placed on her, her family history, and her own personality.
Miss Emily was weighed down throughout the story by the expectations society places on her. Firstly, the story is set in a time when spinsters were looked down on. The author describes the town feeling vindicated when Miss Emily reaches 30 and remains unmarried.
The narrator explaining, “The ladies all said, ‘Of course a
Grierson would not think seriously of a Northerner, a day laborer” (546). The town expects that Miss Emily will not fall in love and marry some as common as Homer
Barron. The society in which Miss Emily lives plays am important role in her development because they outline what is and is not expected of her.
As much as the town had expectations for the life of Miss Emily, her family history and expectations comes into play as well. The story explains that she had a history in her family of mental illness. Her great- aunt Wyatt has gone insane. Her father had expectations of her in regards to courting and marriage. The story states that the town,
“remembered all the young men her father had driven away” (537). Her father believed that his daughter was too good for anyone and forced her to spend her time alone. After her father’s death, she was left alone in the world. Her family was old, and moneyed.
Lastly, her personality plays a role in the development of her character and