Faulkner's The Long Strand Of Iron Gray Hair

The Long Strand of Iron Gray Hair
“A Rose for Emily” is a sinister short story written by William Faulkner that provides a narrative on Emily Grierson from someone in her community on particular events that occurred in their town before she passed away, and how the death of her farther troubled her entire life (516). Therefore, traumatized by her father’s death that leaves her feeling lonely. Emily Grierson later kills Homer Barron due to the fact that he reveals he was leaving town and is gay. All together, Emily felt betrayed by these events. “It becomes obvious fairly early in the story that the distinction between reality and illusion has blurred out for Emily” (Brooks and Warren 524). “A Rose for Emily” provides us with an outlook on how grief can affect the psychological state of mind of a person due to death, control and how it can possess a person to refuse the present by living in the past. Emily was traumatized by her father’s death in which she became bitter with the world. Therefore, the companionship she relied on from her father was no longer available to her because of his death. Furthermore, Emily believed her father was still alive by keeping his
body for three days and not wanting to adapt to the present and reality (Faulkner 518). She refuses to pay taxes and did not want to keep up with the new mailing system due to the fear of change (Faulkner 516). Emily felt betrayed by the town because they took her fathers body away from her.
Therefore, Emily felt lonely since he was no longer around to keep her company and fill that void in her life. The town pitied her because she was alone, they offered condolences and aid however, she responds by telling them her father was not dead (Faulkner 518). Emily’s loneliness drove her to seclusion in which she never came out of the house, let her health deteriorate and always had a changed of appearance when she was seen in public (Faulkner 519). Therefore, she always depended on her father to protect, defend and act on her behalf. Consequently, Emily’s father never gave her an opportunity to have the confidence to be independent, or self-worth to believe she could stand alone in the presence of
change. During the time Homer Barron comes into Emily’s life due to his construction company contract with the town. Homer and Emily begin spending a great deal of time together; the moments spent together fills the desire void of a man in her life. Occasionally, the town starts seeing Emily and Homer around town every Sunday afternoons driving his yellow-wheeled buggy (Faulkner 519). People believed she was going to marry Homer, until one day he disappears from the town and the people of the town really felt bad for Emily. Therefore, Emily goes to the druggist for poison that kills rats and she ask for the best so the druggist decides to give her arsenic (Faulkner 519). For that reason, the town believed she was going to kill herself because Homer remarked that he liked men (Faulkner 520). In closing, generation passes she dies and no one in the town knew she was sick because she never came out of the house. After her death there was one room above the stairs no one had seen in forty years (Faulkner 522). Emily’s cousins opened the room soon after she was buried and they find a decay body of a man lying in the bed with the indentation of a head beside him with a long strand of iron-gray hair under the pillow (Faulkner 522). Emily felt resentful and betrayed by Homer because she knew he was not going to marry her since he was gay and was going to leave town. Therefore, the poison for rats was to kill and keep homer so that she won’t ever be alone.
In Summary, Emily’s lack of social skills and seclusion from the world was due to the fact her father never allowed her to socialize with anyone. Colonel Sartoris affect on Emily made her feel that she always needed a man’s presence in her life. Therefore, Emily kills homer Barron because she was traumatized by her fathers death, felt lonely due to his absence and felt rejected by Homer Barron due to the fact he was leaving town and was gay.