Emily Stuck In The Past Research Paper
Maggie Turnbull
Comp II
Margaret Stone
29 April 2014
Emily Stuck in the Past William Faulkner provides a perfect example in his short story, “A Rose for Emily,” that people of The South at the end of the American Civil War did not succumb to change easily. These residents of The South clung to their old ways and values from which they once knew. Miss Emily Grierson is Faulkner’s perfect example of these people. Miss Emily epitomizes the old, Pre-Civil War South throughout the short story by being attached to that time period. While the other citizens of her fictional town believe that she is insane, I believe that she is just misunderstood and affected by a very secluded childhood from her late father. Miss Emily grew up very rich in a small …show more content…
When her father passed, she would not accept it until a group of preachers and doctors finally got her to realize he was no longer in her life. Even though her father left her with virtually nothing, he was all she had in her life besides Homer. Before she met Homer, her father was her only friend and companion; so when it came to his death, she was devastated and in shock. She came down with an illness for a while, and then she met Homer Barron. After being seen together multiple times in public, the townspeople begin to think that Miss Emily has finally found her perfect suitor. Low and behold, though, he is considered a lower ranking in society than her, which causes the couple to end up not working out; but the townspeople do not know about this. They just think that Homer has gone back to his home before he and Miss Emily get married. Homer, though, seems to never show back up after he is last seen leaving the Grierson home. People believe that he just never came back for Miss Emily. In reality though, Emily has kept Homer for herself and herself only for almost forty years. This shows her reluctance to give up her past and to succumb into the future ways of the
Comp II
Margaret Stone
29 April 2014
Emily Stuck in the Past William Faulkner provides a perfect example in his short story, “A Rose for Emily,” that people of The South at the end of the American Civil War did not succumb to change easily. These residents of The South clung to their old ways and values from which they once knew. Miss Emily Grierson is Faulkner’s perfect example of these people. Miss Emily epitomizes the old, Pre-Civil War South throughout the short story by being attached to that time period. While the other citizens of her fictional town believe that she is insane, I believe that she is just misunderstood and affected by a very secluded childhood from her late father. Miss Emily grew up very rich in a small …show more content…
When her father passed, she would not accept it until a group of preachers and doctors finally got her to realize he was no longer in her life. Even though her father left her with virtually nothing, he was all she had in her life besides Homer. Before she met Homer, her father was her only friend and companion; so when it came to his death, she was devastated and in shock. She came down with an illness for a while, and then she met Homer Barron. After being seen together multiple times in public, the townspeople begin to think that Miss Emily has finally found her perfect suitor. Low and behold, though, he is considered a lower ranking in society than her, which causes the couple to end up not working out; but the townspeople do not know about this. They just think that Homer has gone back to his home before he and Miss Emily get married. Homer, though, seems to never show back up after he is last seen leaving the Grierson home. People believe that he just never came back for Miss Emily. In reality though, Emily has kept Homer for herself and herself only for almost forty years. This shows her reluctance to give up her past and to succumb into the future ways of the