Reconstruction In A Rose For Emily

In A Rose for Emily, William Faulkner tells the story of Miss Emily Grierson, who isolated herself from the people of Jefferson, a former Civil War battleground and the town she called home. From the outside, Emily appears as a normal southern belle living in the bitter times of the Reconstruction era; although her vindictive neighbors tend to think otherwise of her presence. Emily’s rough past with her controlling father lead to a pattern of silent yet deceitful behaviors. Following her father’s death, she denies his passing, holding onto his dead body for three days and initiating the spiral of increasingly deranged actions Emily takes. Faulkner reveals a metaphorical relation to the time of Reconstruction in the South through the portrayal of Emily’s resistance to the changes happening around
This industrialization, including cotton gins and gasoline pumps, began as the new generation emerged in the town. The new generation alludes to Reconstruction, which swept the South after the Civil War. Emily’s house and way of life remains in the old traditions of the South. The new generation becomes aware of Emily’s refusal to pay her taxes, but when they confront her, she tells them to see Colonel Sartoris, the town mayor who had died 10 years previously. The Colonel was one who supported racism during his time, “[fathering] the edict that no Negro woman should appear on the streets without an apron.” After Emily’s father died, he created a fake story that would alleviate Emily’s need to pay taxes. Despite the Colonel’s death, Emily continued to not pay her taxes. While the rest of the town was moving forward with the industrial changes, Emily’s house and her southern lifestyle did not conform. Miss Emily and her house represent the resistance of the South during reconstruction. The South wanted to keep their traditions the same, resisting the push of industrialization and riddance of