Emily Grierson Past

“Alive, Miss Emily had been a tradition, a duty, a care, a sort of hereditary obligation upon the town…” A Rose for Emily, written by William Faulkner, is set in the South, following the Civil War. Slavery had been abolished, the economy was straining, and society was grieving. In the novel the American South is shown to be in distress, southerners were in denial of any change, and were trying to hold on too any dignity they had left. By allowing the reader to reconstruct the dates chronologically and untangle the characters experiences on their own, Faulkner provides a complex transition from one section to another. In, “A Rose for Emily,” the concept of time present and time past is explored. By making a parallel between the main character,
One of the most obvious distinctions shown in the first section is the narrator's detailed description of Grierson's physical appearance. “She looked bloated, like a body long submerged in motionless water, and of that pallid hue. Her eyes, a lost in the fatty ridges of her face, looked like two small pieces of coal pressed into a lump of dough…” This depicts Grierson similar to a wild animal being observed. In this section she is seen as small and obese. Grierson's deteriorating appearances matches the ones of her house. A house that once use to be painted beautifully, decorated, and located on one of the most selected streets is now an eyesore to the town. “Only Miss Emily's house was left, lifting its stubborn and coquettish decay above the cotton wagons and the gasoline pumps…” Not only was the exterior of the house decaying but the inside as well. For example, when the townspeople visited her, the narrator describes it having a, “dank smell”, “ leather covered furniture” that was cracked, and dust piles everywhere. There was also a, “tarnished gilt easel” with a crayon portrait of her father. This depiction shows Grierson's inability of moving on, and accepting the past. Her house inside and out, has not been touched up or improved since before the war. It has been left the way of her father's house, as if she was
In the first section, Grierson's death represents a passing of the proper way of life and a transition into the new generations direct, ‘thoughtless’ way of getting things done. Colonel Sartoris was still oppressive of African Americans, creating the law that women of color had to wear aprons in public. By placing this law, he added a daily reminder to those previously oppressed, that he still saw African Americans as living for his servitude, reaffirming emancipation. Although racist, Colonel Sartoris, followed the old tradition of chivalry towards a white women. He sympathized Emily, as he became aware of her economic status after her father's death. He created a fake tale of a gentleman agreement between Emily's father and him that remitted her taxes. “Only a man of Colonel Sartoris generation and thought could have invented it, and only a woman could have believed it.” This quote shows that during that time it was an impulse for men, to make sure women wouldn't worry about anything ‘serious’. As the first section continued, the narrator describes the conflict the present, new town officials, had when dealing with Grierson. They see her as a burden, and make every effort to remind her to pay taxes. With the new generations more modern approach, Grierson, became defensive and responded saying, "I have no taxes in Jefferson" and "See Colonel Sartoris.”