Miss Emily was born into a highly respected family which meant that there was a lot of strain on her to behave in a certain way. With no mother around, her father was the one who had to show her how to act and raise her to be a “proper woman.” While there is nothing wrong with this in general, Emily’s father was a controlling man who wanted her to do everything he said. Mr. Grierson thought that “none of the young men were quite good enough for Miss Emily” (Faulkner). It wasn’t that they weren’t good enough, but that he didn’t want to lose the domination he had over his daughter. In the story a painting is described of Emily and her father where “her father [was] a spraddled silhouette in the foreground, his back to her and clutching a horsewhip”
