Character Analysis of Emily Grierson: “A Rose for Emily” Essay

Emily Grierson was a in the southern belle who represented the old ways of the south. A woman, who was dour, unever-changing and unable to let go of her haunting past took two her burdens and the old ways of the south to her grave. Throughout the story the narrator refers to her as Alive, Miss Emily had been a tradition, a duty and a care, a mannequin of hereditary obligation on the t deliver. tradition meaning that she was sort of royal family to the towns state because her sky pilot was the mayor of the town. This royalty gave Emily a sense of entitlement which could be seen throughout the story. An example would be when we she went to the store to buy some poison, she wanted the strongest poison the owner had to scoreer which was arsenic, a type of rat poison. Although the druggist, by law has to know what she is going to use the poison for, Emily refuses to answer and continues to behold at the man until he decides to give her the arsenic.This is one of the many example s of how Emily thinks she is somehow above the law and should not be questioned for her actions. Another example of her stubborn ways would be a few years later when she refuses to reconcile her taxes because Colonel Sartores said that she didnt have to. She estates that I have no taxes in Jefferson. Colonel Sartores explained it to me. The sheriff continues to reason with her by informing her that the colonel sent a letter formula that she did in item have to pay taxes but once again, she refuses to swear it because she is stubborn and stuck in her own ways. This attitude of authority and entitlement was due the fact that her father was the mayor of the town and it was expected of of all timeyone to showed respect. Not only was Emily empower but she was also mentally unstable. It was thought that mental disorders ran in the family because her aunt was also mentally unstable as well.It seems that she has this need to want to enclose everything because she had an aunt who w as mentally unstable. Going back to the tax incident it morose out that the colonel has been dead for ten years and there would be no way of checking with him because of this, this apart of the story reveals that she seems to be living in her own reality that she is living in the past. Another example of this is whenher father died, her father sheltered her a lot shooing away boys so she became very disjunct early in life. When her father died, she clinged on to the very thing that unploughed her from living a life of her own because that was the only life she had ever had. This event seemed to have left her in a depressed state where she would never leave the house until she meets a man named Homer top executive. Baron was a Yankee or a man from the north who took an occupy in Emily, they were often seen together in town and most people thought that they were married. When Emily found out that baron was not the marrying type she obstinate to take matters into her own hands an d killed baron with arsenic so that he would never leave her.Emily Grierson was an example of a way of life that was wasting away. Miss Emily represented the old ways of the south and how they were dying off throughout the story. One prime example of this is when the Yankees from the north to help take new sidewalk for the town showing the readers that the times are changing and that the old ways of life are dying. Emilys refusal to let go of the past and traditions represents what the old ways of the south were everything is preserved. The old ways of the south dealt with keeping up with tradition and preserving the past, which Emily, was also trying to preserve the burst life that was left behind when her father died and any attempts to try and line her out of the past and into the future were futile.Works-CitedCheuse, Alan, Delbanco, Nicholas (2012) Literature Craft and Voice (second edition). modernistic York, NY. McGraw-Hill. Faulkner, William (1932) A rose for EmilyLitera ture Craft and Voice (second edition). New York, NY. McGraw-Hill. Maimon, E.P., Peritz, J.H., Yancey, K.B. (2012) The McGraw-Hill enchiridion (Third edition). New York, NY. p.417 Referencing a book with two or more Authors