Emily Stuck In The Past Research Paper

Maggie Turnbull
Comp II
Margaret Stone
29 April 2014
Emily Stuck in the Past William Faulkner provides a perfect example in his short story, “A Rose for Emily,” that people of The South at the end of the American Civil War did not succumb to change easily. These residents of The South clung to their old ways and values from which they once knew. Miss Emily Grierson is Faulkner’s perfect example of these people. Miss Emily epitomizes the old, Pre-Civil War South throughout the short story by being attached to that time period. While the other citizens of her fictional town believe that she is insane, I believe that she is just misunderstood and affected by a very secluded childhood from her late father. Miss Emily grew up very rich in a small
town with her overprotective father. His overwhelming control brainwashed her as a child that she should never have any responsibility to society or anything else. Mr. Grierson was extremely picky about who he wanted his daughter to marry, and because of that he really jeopardized her future financial capability. His control and protection also ruined Miss Emily’s real outlook on the actual world. She never understood what it meant to be a portion of an actual society, and Mr. Grierson was the cause of that. After her father passed, Mr. Grierson left his daughter with nothing but a house; her by watchers of the town felt extreme pity for her. I believe that because of the way Miss Emily was raised, she has a very difficult time letting go of things.
When her father passed, she would not accept it until a group of preachers and doctors finally got her to realize he was no longer in her life. Even though her father left her with virtually nothing, he was all she had in her life besides Homer. Before she met Homer, her father was her only friend and companion; so when it came to his death, she was devastated and in shock. She came down with an illness for a while, and then she met Homer Barron. After being seen together multiple times in public, the townspeople begin to think that Miss Emily has finally found her perfect suitor. Low and behold, though, he is considered a lower ranking in society than her, which causes the couple to end up not working out; but the townspeople do not know about this. They just think that Homer has gone back to his home before he and Miss Emily get married. Homer, though, seems to never show back up after he is last seen leaving the Grierson home. People believe that he just never came back for Miss Emily. In reality though, Emily has kept Homer for herself and herself only for almost forty years. This shows her reluctance to give up her past and to succumb into the future ways of the
society. Miss Emily really seems to struggle with the advancements of the world as it changes. When she was a child her father made an agreement for a “loan” with the town so that he never had to pay taxes. She believed that since her father never had to pay that she did not either. She also did not like the fact that they put numbers on the mailboxes once the sidewalks were paved. She refused to allow a number to be placed on her mailbox as well. Her behavior began to lead the townspeople to believe that Miss Emily was just insane. For me, I think that she is just misunderstood. Her father’s upbringing really affected her and her outlook on society. She does not understand that the world around her is changing, and when she finally figures it out after her father died, she went into a panic mode. She needed someone there with her at all times, and she chose Homer for that role. To keep him with her forever she killed him and kept him in her house where she secluded herself like her father once did when she was young.
Emily Grierson is easily mistaken for an insane human being who just does not like the fact that she has lost control of her life and town. The townspeople think that she is just crazy and they do not pity her at all. She was a constant talk of the town, and after she died the women of the town could not wait to see what was behind the doors of her home. Their constant gossip about her created an everlasting reputation for the poor woman.
Miss Emily Grierson should no longer be misunderstood, and should be given credit for her hardships in her life.