Nonconformism In A Rose For Emily

"In A Rose for Emily," Emily is essentially a hermit, rarely seen outside of her house. Yet, many in the community attempt to assimilate her into modern society. For example, the "next generation, with its more modern ideas," insists she begin paying taxes and later attempt to put house numbers on her home. She rejects all these attempts by refusing to acknowledge them, and the community repeatedly backs down. Even when they effectively deal with the problems associated with Emily, such as the eliminating the smell around her house by sprinkling lime, they resolve the issue surreptitiously, so as to avoid confrontation. Since the community's attempts to change Emily fail, it seems to work around her, for it sees her as "inescapable, impervious, …show more content…
In Emily's case, the community delights in speculation about the "high and mighty griersons," based partially on her eccentric behavior as well as jealousy of her social status. For example, after Emily purchases the arsenic, people said, "she will kill herself," and later people speculate that she will marry Homer Barron. In a sense, she provides a form of entertainment. As Emily gets older, however, she becomes "like the carven torso of an idol in a niche, looking or not looking at us." She is a fixture that no longer garners the attention of people. Similarly, once the novelty of the old man wears off, the villagers turn their attention to the novelty of the "woman who had been changed into a spider for having disobeyed her parents." Unlike the unresponsive old man, the spider woman provided a pathetic narrative the villagers could relate to, evoking sympathy and charity.When Marquez writes that "the woman who been changed into a spider finally crushed [the old man] completely," he is implying that her significance caused his to