The Importance Of Life In William Faulkner's A Rose For Emily

With a quiet and secretive woman such as Miss Emily Grierson, it may be difficult to see into their life, and even harder to know how they are as a person. In William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily,” only a small portion of Emily’s life is shared. This provides few events and factors that may have shaped Emily’s personality and her life, leaving everyone else the pleasure of filling in the gaps. These events that are written are all that Emily is and ever will be, according to the townspeople and the reader. While Emily’s father was alive, he was very controlling over her and any relationships she might have had, allowing none. Faulkner writes of “all the young men her father had driven away,” (page 3, paragraph 2) leaving Emily romantically, and presumably platonically, alone for most of her life. It might have been thought that he was just looking after her, protecting her from heartbreak; however it caused …show more content…
This is the one and only man in the story who ever had a true relationship with Emily, and she loved him. This caused him to leave a large handprint in her life. Unfortunately, Homer did not feel the same and he had even said that he liked men. It was later rumored, however, that he and Emily had gotten married. Surprisingly, Homer then left town, not to be seen for about a week and a half. The townspeople believed that he would be back as he was, but he disappeared into Miss Emily’s house on return, never to be seen again. Emily had gotten so attached to this man that it must have broken her heart in half when he told her of his sexuality, so she didn’t let him go. It can be put together that Emily had poisoned and kept Homer – dead – until they discovered him after Emily’s death, decades later. This is how much he meant to Miss Emily as her first love. If Emily hadn’t met Homer, there wouldn’t be much of a story to put together besides one about a sad old lady who dies