Who Is Emily Responsible For Grierson's Death

In William Faulkner’s short story, “A Rose for Emily”, the main character, Emily Grierson, is introduced as an audacious member of society. This story was written about the old south and included the Gothic writing style. Emily lives in a Mississippi town where people hold her family name to the utmost respect and standards. With the townspeople holding Emily on a pedestal they end up enabling her to do whatever she wants whenever she feels like it. In the short story, “A Rose for Emily”, the townspeople are responsible for the way that Emily acts after her father’s death because of their negligence of holding her accountable. At the beginning of the story, Emily is introduced to the readers as an obligation to the townspeople because of …show more content…
She knows that after she passes away the townspeople will have no choice but to clean up her mess and they still feel sorry for her after they find out what she does to Homer. With the death of Homer, Emily knows that no one will find out because none of the townspeople care enough to look into the wrong-doings of a Grierson, especially since they are seen as southern royalty. Even after Emily died, “they waited until Miss Emily was decently in the ground before they opened it” (ARFE Pg. 101), they still have that obligation towards Emily to make sure that they are decent to her and that they respect her. This is showing that they are still afraid of and obligated to Emily, even after she no longer holds any power over them. In conclusion, the townspeople are responsible for the actions of Emily because they did not hold her actions accountable throughout the short story, “A Rose for Emily”. Be it from paying taxes, to buying a dangerous poison, Emily was never expected to explain herself or her actions. She was allowed, by herself and the townspeople, to do as she pleased no matter what the situation it was, therefore they enabled her to become the person that she died