A Character Analysis of William Falkner’s “a Rose for Emily”
Caleb Sambor
Professor Smithson
ENC1102
1 March 2010
A Character Analysis of William Falkner’s “A Rose for Emily”
William Faulkner 's short story, "A Rose for Emily," shows how a small Southern town can together shape a character throughout generations based on nothing more than tradition, gossip and assumptions. From the narrator’s perspective, Emily Grierson begins as a noble and well bred character. Under the command of her father and their Southern traditions, Emily evolves into a woman who becomes unable to let go of the past and refuses to join the present both mentally and physically. Emily is described in the beginning of the story as what would be considered an honorable match in marriage for a gentleman from another well-bred family. However, her father is described as over protective and accused of believing “that the Griersons held themselves a little too high for what they really were” and that “none of the young men were quite good enough for Miss Emily” (Gioia 32). Since there is no mention of Emily’s mother, nor a maternal character during this period of her life, the reader can assume that her father’s word was the law and that he was devoted only to Emily. Upon his death, Emily refused to believe that he was indeed dead. The townspeople had to intervene in order to have her father’s body removed and buried. Because of the gossip surrounding her crazy great-aunt Wyatt, some people assumed that Emily may be prone to mental illness. But understanding the loss of her father after leading such a sheltered life, the townspeople expressed pity and were not quick to judge Emily at that point. There was the matter of her taxes, however, that seems to cause great annoyance in the town. While they may have respected Emily because of her roots and pitied her because of her upbringing, they are very quick to judge her negatively when it comes to paying her taxes. It is also said that some are even enjoying what they perceive as Emily’s
Professor Smithson
ENC1102
1 March 2010
A Character Analysis of William Falkner’s “A Rose for Emily”
William Faulkner 's short story, "A Rose for Emily," shows how a small Southern town can together shape a character throughout generations based on nothing more than tradition, gossip and assumptions. From the narrator’s perspective, Emily Grierson begins as a noble and well bred character. Under the command of her father and their Southern traditions, Emily evolves into a woman who becomes unable to let go of the past and refuses to join the present both mentally and physically. Emily is described in the beginning of the story as what would be considered an honorable match in marriage for a gentleman from another well-bred family. However, her father is described as over protective and accused of believing “that the Griersons held themselves a little too high for what they really were” and that “none of the young men were quite good enough for Miss Emily” (Gioia 32). Since there is no mention of Emily’s mother, nor a maternal character during this period of her life, the reader can assume that her father’s word was the law and that he was devoted only to Emily. Upon his death, Emily refused to believe that he was indeed dead. The townspeople had to intervene in order to have her father’s body removed and buried. Because of the gossip surrounding her crazy great-aunt Wyatt, some people assumed that Emily may be prone to mental illness. But understanding the loss of her father after leading such a sheltered life, the townspeople expressed pity and were not quick to judge Emily at that point. There was the matter of her taxes, however, that seems to cause great annoyance in the town. While they may have respected Emily because of her roots and pitied her because of her upbringing, they are very quick to judge her negatively when it comes to paying her taxes. It is also said that some are even enjoying what they perceive as Emily’s
Cited: Dilworth, Thomas. A Romance to Kill for: Homicidal Complicity in Faulkner 's “A Rose for Emily.” EBSCOhost. Web. 15 Feb. 2010. Kennedy, X.J. and Dana Gioia, eds. Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. 11 ed. NewYork: Longman, 2009. Print.