Emily Grierson In William Faulkner's A Rose For Emily

The Frozen Time of Emily Grierson
In this paper, the story of William Faulkner “A Rose for Emily”, I will illustrate how Emily Grierson was living in the past. Firstly, in the beginning of the story, the author’s detailed characterization foreshadowed the irony at the ending of the story. Secondly, Emily’s whole life and faith was controlled and twisted by her father’s selfishness and when her father died, she refused to give up her father’s dead body. Thirdly, she ignored all the public notice and tax collection that was sent to her. Fourthly, she turned her affection and desire to possess Homer that leads him to his death. Finally, the story that started the end of Miss Emily Grierson life was unfolded and the author suggests that Emily’s
Her father was overprotective of her and forced all the young men away. She stayed single at the age of thirty when her father died. The people talked about the chances that could have been in her life, if Miss Emily’s father did not deprive her from marrying anybody at least and perhaps she could have somebody with her in times of grief. The people understood of course the situation she was going through assuming Emily’s state of mind was not right because of her lost and now alone with an empty house and could only clasp to what she had lost (34). Miss Emily refusal to accept her father’s death was significant because it took her three days before she finally buried her father. In this situation, I believed that Emily started to stop the time because by denying her father’s death, she could turn the clock around to manipulate her father and take control of him instead but unfortunately he was six feet underground. For this reason, Emily Grierson started taking in charge of her life by keeping it “still” in
To Emily her pride of death was not the ultimate end of her world, her life evolves in death and this shows that if she could not have her way with her father or with Homer, she would rather have them dead living with her. In this story, I could only assume that William Faulkner’s logical explanation for Emily’s behavior that life is no better than death, if she cannot have Homer to herself, then death is the only way to have him