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Society Treated In William Faulkner's A Rose For Emily

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Society is defined as a “very hypocritical set of affairs which affects everyone involved in it”, usually in a negative way (“Society”). For individuals to fit in they feel that they are required to live up to societies “normal standards”, therefore lowering the person’s self-esteem. Unfortunately, these people tend to grow up doing things that may seem admirable to others and generally miss out on being themselves. This constant mindset can make people unaware of their self-worth and can make them seem unfit and out of place in the world. Society plays an important role in William Faulkner’s story “A Rose for Emily”, because of the harsh action’s and judgments towards Emily that contributed to her mental condition. In regard to how society treated Emily, it created a barrier between stable mental health and the mental health that the townspeople were accustomed to. Emily and her father lived alone in a large beautiful house, because of this her father had become very manipulative and controlling. He confirmed to the ways of society, these actions soon were followed with a gain of very special connections. He loaned a large sum of money to the town, therefore this …show more content…

This all changed once he passed and she met a “big, dark, ready man, with a big voice and eyes lighter than his face” named Homer Barron, a foreman for a construction company (Faulkner 4). Although Emily was smitten by Homer, he was known for his persistent liking for drinking with young men at the Elk’s Club. He mentioned that he wasn’t a marrying man, but Emily felt that it was just a phase and that she could change him. Once she figured out that he was never going to change, she took it upon herself to kill him so that nobody else could love him but her. After Homer’s death, more rumors were spread throughout the town causing Miss Emily to let factors impact her ongoing mental

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Emily's father is described as being an oppressive man who believes that nobody was good enough for his daughter. Her father was controlling her because she wants the best for his daughter especially the best husband for her. Her father disappointed every man for his daughter in order to maintain his control over her. When Mr. Grierson died, the townspeople felt that Miss Emily had become humanized and she too would know the old thrill and the old despair of a penny more or less.

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Not only that, as Homer becomes a popular figure in town and is seen taking Emily on buggy rides on Sunday afternoons, it scandalizes the town and increases the condescension and pity they have for Emily. They feel that she is forgetting her family pride and becoming involved with a man beneath her station. Even though Emily is from the high class family, it does not mean that she is living up to the pleasant lifestyle. As a matter of fact, she is actually living a gloomy and desolate life, which is essentially the opposite lifestyle expected for Emily's rank in society by the townspeople. Although Emily once represented a great southern tradition centering on the landed gentry with their vast holdings and considerable resources, Emily's legacy has devolved, making her more a duty and an obligation than a romanticized vestige of a dying order.

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It is clear that in her era, Miss Emily was seen as traditional American Southern women, who lived to become an inferior women to man but was later a burden to her society. She was a lady who was secluded from society, lived a psychopathic life, which at the end, and was no secret for the town’s people. While Miss Emily was alive, she lived in a secluded home of a single father, thus leading her to be dependent upon him. She did not have much of a socially engaged life, for her father drove men away. When he finally died, Miss Emily told the townspeople that he was not dead, and finally, on the third day, let the town’s people buried him (William Faulkner 1105).

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Throughout the story, the main character, Miss Emily Grierson, shows signs of what appears to be some form of mental illness. Although Faulkner never states that Miss Emily has anything wrong with her mental health, he does provide enough evidence to support that she is not psychologically stable. In “A Rose for Emily,” Faulkner portrays the main character as a mysterious icon of the small town of Jefferson, Mississippi. As the story states, Emily’s father is an admirable figure in the city of Jefferson. After his passing, the townspeople show the same respect for Emily, as well.

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Conformity is a change in behavior, which is normally caused by another person or a group of people’s thoughts or opinions of someone. When an individual is constantly told that they are a certain way, the individual will eventually begin to believe it and conform to other’s views without even realizing it. This happened to the young Emily Grierson, by a numerous amount of people, and continued to happen until the day of her death. Many can probably say that it was the main reason for her deteriorating mental condition, instability, and the strange approach of how she handled death. “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner is an unusual story about a girl with a troubled mind who is eventually pushed over the edge by the constant gossip of the townspeople and the heartbreak of a lover.

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William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” is a story that looks at the life of an isolated older woman named Emily, whom has continuously fought through loneliness most of her life. Faulkner introduces Emily by comparing her to a historical object with no loved ones. Even after receiving news of her death, people were more interested in the inside of her home rather than show sympathy towards her passing. Emily’s worn down house represented her own character, the last among a neighborhood of abandoned old homes, purposefully displaying her as being alone and unpleasant to look at. The story further describes the reasoning’s behind Emily’s dismay through examples such as her controlling father and lack of compassionate relationships; She had become hardened and quiet towards the word.

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“A Rose for Emily” is a dark, suspenseful Gothic tale in which a young girl is put on a pedestal by a town who sees her as haughty and scornful. Miss Emily Grierson’s father controls her and her love life, pushing away all people until he dies and Emily is left alone. As her life goes on the townspeople watch her and judge Emily, almost turning her life into a spectacle to be talked about. At her death, a gruesome sight is unfolded when her lover of over forty years ago is found decomposed in her upstairs room. William Faulkner effectively builds epic suspense in “A Rose for Emily” by the unchronological order of the story, the treatment of Emily’s father towards her, and her family’s history of mental illness.

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Mental illness is a disease that can affect almost anyone in society. Many people cast aside those with these illnesses and say they are delusional. The reality of the situation being that they aren’t crazy, but in desperate need of help. In William Faulkner’s “A Rose For Emily,” the reader becomes acquainted with Emily Grierson, who, unlike most in the community, is a woman from a highly respected family. She is faced with loss and the scrutiny of the community.

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“A Rose for Emily” written by William Faulkner, is a short story narrated by townspeople about a wealthy woman named Emily. At the end of the story, the reader discovers Emily has been suffering from mental deterioration and may have committed murder. The townspeople describe Emily’s life in great detail; yet focus strictly on gossip, innuendo and tragedy. The gossip the townspeople spread about her revolves around the jealousy they have for her family’s wealth.

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“A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner is written about the change from old South to new South and Emily refuses to accept the changes by living in her own version of reality. An analysis of William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” will explain how Faulkner portrays the change in the social structure of the American South in the early twentieth century as a change from old South to new South by showing the Griersons no longer hold power, the changes in the town, and Emily’s denial to change. In the new South the Griersons no longer hold power. Emily believes that her family still holds the power that they had in the old south, so she never payed her taxes.

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William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” critiques the American South Describing Emily’s vibrant life full of hope and buoyancy, later shrouded into the profound mystery, Faulkner emphasizes her denial to accept the concept of death. William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” takes place in the South during the transitional time period from the racial discrimination to the core political change of racial equality. Starting from the description of her death, “A Rose for Emily” tells the story about the lady who is the last in her generation (Emily Grierson). Being strong, proud and a traditional lady of southern aristocracy, Emily turns into an evil, unpredictable and mysterious old lady after the death of her father. Even though “A Rose for Emily”

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This can be seen from her perception and description of the man who shares her “special” seat as a “… fine old man” and the woman as “a big old woman” (101). Her Surname 2 remembrance of the previous Sunday’s patient Englishman and his nagging hard to please wife whom she wanted to shake also shows her envy for women with male companionship. In Faulkner’s story A Rose for Emily, Emily is seen as a person who suffers from isolation from her community, by tradition and by law. Her isolation from the community and love is what seems to perturb her most; she is unable to accept the idea that her father is dead and she remains in denial.

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Emily is judged for loving a man who is less fortunate than her . In the following line the townspeople’s reactions to their relationship is obvious, “’Poor Emily’, the whispering began. ‘Do you suppose it’s really so?’ they said to one another” (102). The townspeople did not to much care for the relationship between the two because of the barriers set up by social class saying poor date the poor and rich date the rich.

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In William Faulkner’s, “A Rose for Emily,” the historical context is important to understand. In order to fully comprehend the short story there must be some sort of understanding about the time period in which the story took place. This short story took place in the 18th/19th century during and after the Civil War in the South. In “A Rose for Emily” the historical context shows the social, economic, and the cultural environment of the background. Miss Emily was born during the Civil War.

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“A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner is written about the change from Old South to New South and Emily refuses to accept the changes by living in her own version of reality. An analysis of William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” will explain how Faulkner portrays the change in the social structure of the American South in the early twentieth century as a change from Old South to New South by showing the Griersons no longer hold power, the changes in the town, and Emily’s denial to change. In the New South the Griersons no longer hold power. Emily believes that her family still holds the power that they had in the Old South, so she never payed her taxes.

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