Character Analysis: Emily Grierson Essay Example

Character Analysis: Emily Grierson Faulkner's character, Emily Grierson, is a tragic outsider and hermit. She closes herself in her house because of her insecurities. These insecurities came to light after her father passed away. It seems as if she relied on her father a great deal. Her father thought highly of her as well. This is exemplified in his numerous refusals to potential mates for his daughter. He found no one that would suit Miss. Grierson. When Mr. Grierson passed, this presence of support and security went with him. So, for many years she shied away from an ever so intrusive and speculative society. When she is in her thirties she meets a man named Homer Barron. They spend time together and he rides around with her every Sunday in a yellow buggy. Faulkner fashions the narrator to impersonate a member of this community. The narrator experiences Miss Emily Grierson wake and the discovery the expired Homer Barron. Most importantly, the narrator illustrates the commentary and opinion of the disapproving society. Faulkner does this to fully illustrate this judgmental eye. Her insecurities continue to get the best of her. The most important thing to her, in her later years, is Mr. Barron. Fearing she will lose him as well, she murders him. She does this to eliminate any possibilities of him abandoning her. She continues her campaign for security in her refusal to pay her taxes. She doesn’t want to lose that privilege of exemption. If she succumbed to payment, the last remaining piece of her father would die. It is revealed to the reader in the end of the story that she has a secret room. It is where she kept her wedding effects. She left the room untouched for years to secure the aspiration of her becoming Mrs.