Professor J. Jackson
English 111
December 11, 2012
“A Rose for Emily”
Emily William Faulkner in her short story “A Rose for Emily” narrates a remarkable story about a woman drive to insanity due to isolation. In this short story, the main character Emily Grierson shuts her away and is aided by townspeople in not following the rules of our society. When she dies, the reader and townspeople discover that many years ago, she killed her love and has slept with his corpse every night. Three sub topics play an important .role in this story; characterization, symbols, and setting.
In “A rose for Emily” by Emily William Faulkner, the protagonist Miss Emily is an old-school southern belle trapped in a society bent on forcing her to stay in her role the main character of this story, lives for many years as a recluse, someone who has withdrawn from a community to live in seclusion. "No visitor had passed since she ceased giving china-painting lessons eight or ten years earlier" (Faulkner, 149). Faulkner characterizes Miss Emily's attempt to remove herself from society through her actions. "After her father's death she went out very little; after her sweetheart went away, people hardly saw her at all" (150). The death of her father and the shattered relationship with her sweetheart contributed to her seclusion. Though, her father was responsible for her becoming a recluse, her pride also contributed to her seclusion. "None of the young men were quite good enough for Miss Emily and such" (151). Faulkner uses the feelings of other characters to show Miss Emily's pride. Her pride has kept her from socializing with other members of the community thus reinforcing her solitary. But Miss Emily's father is still responsible for her being a hermit. "We remembered all the young men her father had driven away..." (151). If he had not refused the men who wanted to go out with Miss Emily, she may have not gone crazy. Miss Emily may have wanted seclusion, but her