Character Analysis Of Emily Grierson In A Rose For Emily

Emily Grierson in “A Rose for Emily” is a complicated character her actions in the story are not those of a good person, however she is somewhat of a sympathetic character. The reader could even view Emily as a victim of sorts. The story goes in to detail about Emily’s relationship with Homer Barron as well as her father. As the reader learns more about Emily they learn she has for the most part been isolated her entire life and because of that she has no real understanding about society or other people. This is reflected in her relationship with Homer. She is obsessed with Homer and cannot accept any sort of rejection from him. The reader learns that Emily does not really accept reality as she tells people her father is not dead after he dies. …show more content…
The reader can feel sorry for Emily because her father can be held responsible for every problem she has in the story. Her father isolated her, controlled her, and abused her. Obviously due to how she was raised Emily was going to have issues that were no fault of hers. Because of the way she was raised Emily is delusional, has no idea how to interact with society and is out of touch with reality. Emily’s father controlled her throughout her life so she has no clue how to life without him. Her father isolated her, because of him she had no friends and he turned away every man who came for her. So she has no idea how to behave around people which is why she is so obsessed with Homer. The fact that Homer was the only other person besides her father that Emily had a relationship with led to her killing Homer. So Emily’s father isolating her can be considered a factor in Homer’s death. Due to the isolation form the town the people in the town alienated Emily. She had no friends and she had no one to talk to. She spent her days in her house alone the way her father wanted her to. Emily was also sheltered by her father. The reader can see throughout the story Emily refuses to accept change. She refuses to accept sidewalks, paying taxes, and death. It seems as if Emily refuses to accept anything other than the world her father raised her in. Emily’s father abused her, sheltered her, isolated her, and prevented her from forming any sort of friendships or romances. How can someone raised like that be any different then what we see in the story. Emily’s actions might not be that of a good person, but she might not know any better. Emily is sympathetic to the reader. She is broken mentally and the way she was raised by her father is why she is the mentally broken person we read about in the