Self Destruction In William Faulkner's A Rose For Emily

Self Destruction

Reminiscing about the past is normal, even if done frequently. Everyone does it a bit each day, each week although the feelings preserved throughout our life time are sometimes better than the present day situations we face, and it is easier to live there than to deal with those dilemmas.

In William Faulkner’s short story, “A Rose for Emily,” Miss Emily refuses to accept change in time through her unwillingness to pay taxes, denial of her father’s death, refusal of rejection, and the unchanging appearance of her house.

Miss Emily refuses change in time when she is unwilling to pay her taxes. This is the first point in the story the reader is shown Miss Emily’s tendencies of living the past. Her high status, when her father

She is unable to comprehend her father’s death. Miss Emily’s reaction proves her reality did not line up with what actually happened. “She told them that her father was not dead. She did that for three days, with the ministers calling on her, and the doctors, trying to persuade her to let them dispose of the body. Just as they were about to resort to law and force, she broke down, and they buried her father quickly.” If they had not taken away the body, Miss Emily would have most likely kept it in the house with her until it rotted away. Letting go of her father physically became forced and against her will. “After her father's death she went out very little.” The reader finds out why she tells the mayor she does not go out anymore. To preserve the idea of having her father with her still, going out takes that alternative, made-up reality. Speaking to people in everyday, present life would force her out of her never ending past. Miss Emily’s father is also a huge influence on her life; he specifically controls her dating life, “None of the young men were quite good enough for Miss Emily.” This ensures she will live with, keeping them co-depended on each other. Because all aspects of her life are controlled by her father, when he dies she has no one to tell her what to do. With time, she is able to meet a love interest. He takes over the role of what her father was, but she is afraid to lose a male figure once