“A Rose for Emily” An Analysis of Change
“A Rose for Emily” leads the reader through present, past, and back to the present, until the gruesome and startling end of Emily Grierson. The woman led a sad and lonely life, some of it due to her own unstable mind and some due to her father. Her issues and exaggerated lifestyle promotes the idea that humans need to be able to grow and adapt to the changes of the world we live in. Emily is stuck in the past, evident by her reluctance to move forward in her home life, and her attitude towards those that entered her life. Emily did not change anything about her home since she inherited it from her deceased father. When she was younger, their house was a rich, beautiful, and set on one of the town’s most prominent streets. With the turn of the tide, the old buildings around it were torn down to be replaced by “garages and cotton gins,” (Faulkner, 1). Emily’s home was the only one left, and after years of misuse and maltreatment, the rotting house looked just as bad as what surrounded it. Every time someone visited the home, they noticed the dust and the motes in the air. Emily apparently put no effort into cleaning her home. Still, Emily did not move to another home, where another human being might have wanted the surrounding company of neighbors and attractive scenery. When free postal service became available in the town, only Emily refused to get it. She did not even let a mailbox be put up at her door, …show more content…
From the relationships she had and lost, to the stubborn way she clung to everything from her youth. The townspeople describe that Emily “passed from generation to generation--dear, inescapable, impervious, tranquil, and perverse,” (Faulkner, 7). They even went as far as to call her a “monument,” (Faulkner, 1). Emily was the force that stayed the same during the passing of time in her quiet
“A Rose for Emily” leads the reader through present, past, and back to the present, until the gruesome and startling end of Emily Grierson. The woman led a sad and lonely life, some of it due to her own unstable mind and some due to her father. Her issues and exaggerated lifestyle promotes the idea that humans need to be able to grow and adapt to the changes of the world we live in. Emily is stuck in the past, evident by her reluctance to move forward in her home life, and her attitude towards those that entered her life. Emily did not change anything about her home since she inherited it from her deceased father. When she was younger, their house was a rich, beautiful, and set on one of the town’s most prominent streets. With the turn of the tide, the old buildings around it were torn down to be replaced by “garages and cotton gins,” (Faulkner, 1). Emily’s home was the only one left, and after years of misuse and maltreatment, the rotting house looked just as bad as what surrounded it. Every time someone visited the home, they noticed the dust and the motes in the air. Emily apparently put no effort into cleaning her home. Still, Emily did not move to another home, where another human being might have wanted the surrounding company of neighbors and attractive scenery. When free postal service became available in the town, only Emily refused to get it. She did not even let a mailbox be put up at her door, …show more content…
From the relationships she had and lost, to the stubborn way she clung to everything from her youth. The townspeople describe that Emily “passed from generation to generation--dear, inescapable, impervious, tranquil, and perverse,” (Faulkner, 7). They even went as far as to call her a “monument,” (Faulkner, 1). Emily was the force that stayed the same during the passing of time in her quiet