Essay/Term paper: A rose for emily

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Cliff Notes

William Faulkner"s "A Rose for Emily"

tells a story of a young woman who is

violated by her father"s strict

mentality. After being the only man in

her life Emily"s father dies and she

finds it hard to let go. Like her father

Emily possesses a stubborn outlook

towards life, and she refused to change.

While having this attitude about life

Emily practically secluded herself from

society for the remainder of her life.

She was alone for the very first time

and her reaction to this situation was

solitude.



This story takes place throughout the

Reconstruction Era from the late 1800"s

to the early 1900"s in Jefferson,

Mississippi. Emily was raised in the

period before the Civil War. Her father

who was the only person in her life with

the exception of a former lover who soon

left her as well raised her. The plot of

this story is mainly about Miss Emily"s

attitude about change. While growing up

Emily was raised in a comfortable

environment because her father possessed

a lot of money. Considering that her

father was a very wealthy person who

occasionally loaned the town money Emily

had everything a child could want. This

caused Emily to be very spoiled and

selfish and she never knew the value of

a dollar until her father left her with

nothing but a run down home that started

to decay after a period of time. She

began to ignore the surrounding decay of

the house and her appearance. These lies

continued as she denied her father"s

death, refused to pay taxes, ignores

town gossip about her being a fallen

woman, and does not tell the druggist

why she purchased rat poison. Her life,

like the decaying house suffered from a

lack of genuine love and care. Her

physical appearance is brought about by

years of neglect. As time went on pieces

from Emily started to drift away and

also the home that she confined herself

to. The town grew a great deal of

sympathy towards Emily, although she

never hears it. She was slightly aware

of the faint whispers that began when

her presence was near. Gossip and

whispers may have been the cause of her

hideous behavior. The town couldn"t wait

to pity Ms. Emily because of the way she

looked down on people because she was

born with a silver spoon in her mouth

and she never thought she would be alone

the way her father left her.



Miss Emily might have stayed out of the

public eye after the two deaths because

she was finally alone, something she in

her petty life was not use to. Emily"s

father never left her alone and when he

died Homer Barron was a treat that she

was never allowed to have. He later died

and left her and she was completely

alone after that. After her fathers

death she went out very little; after

her sweetheart went away, people hardly

saw her at all. ( )



With this dilemma she isolates herself

from civilization, using her butler,

Tobe to run her errands. Miss Emily

cannot except the fact that times are

changing and society is growing. Maybe

Miss Emily is shy about her old

fashioned beliefs. If no one was to

observe her then no one could force her

to change. Emily had been through much

and has seen many generations grow

before and around her. This brings

reason to her strong Confederate

beliefs. Miss Emily refused to allow

modern change into her depressed life.

For example when she refused to let the

newer generation fasten metal numbers

above her door and attach a mailbox when

Jefferson got free mail service. This

reflects Emily"s stubborn persona caused

by her father"s treatment when she was

young.



"A Rose for Emily is told through the

eyes of the townspeople. William

Faulkner expressed a lot of the

resident"s opinions towards Emily and

her family"s history. They mentioned old

lady Wyatt, her great aunt who had gone

completely mad.