The Role Of Mental Illness In William Faulkner's A Rose For Emily

William Faulkner tells the southern gothic tale “A Rose for Emily, a short story about the highly complex and deeply disturbed woman Emily Grearson. The story follows her slow mental decay in response to the stressful circumstances she lives under. It extensively utilizes time shifts to show all aspects of her life, and coupled with the God-like narration of the town, it functions as a character study in codependency and isolation. She is a true traditionalist, stubborn, intense, and insecure and throughout all of her conflicts, she responds in an arrogant manner, but one that demonstrates a desire for love, for the need of another person to care for her. The circumstances of her childhood, combined with her disdain for change, produce a recipe for mental illness. Essentially, many of her acts point towards her having some sort of psychological

She was what psychologists would consider an adult child, which means she was somewhat forced to raise herself. “She was sick for a long time.” (132) is a quote that shows indirectly illustrates her loneliness. In essence, she cuts herself off from the world which is a toxic response to change. In the time period living alone was taboo; therefore, she feels lonely. In response, she takes another person to stay with her, Homer Barron. As previously stated, he is the unrequited love of her life, and this fact hurts her even more. “We were not surprised when Homer Barron… was gone” (135) proves that she couldn’t take the change’s toll on her life. If she was mentally stable, she would’ve taught herself how to deal with situations like this in a more healthy manner. Instead, she goes to these antisocial behavioral patterns. Her mental insecurity is something that controls her so much that she stops doing every single thing she’s ever loved, and ruins all of her closest