A Rose For Emily

Letting go of the past can be very difficult for some people. Most people who have difficulties moving on are the ones who do not like change. In the story, “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner, a woman named Emily Grierson has a difficult time moving on. She mentally lives in the past and in result to that, she isolates herself from the modern world and refuses to take part of any new ideas that have been created over time. Examples in the story that demonstrates that Emily is stuck in the past, includes her home, refusing to pay her taxes, and refusing to get a mailbox installed on her door.
A piece of evidence that proves to the reader that Emily is still living in the past is her home. When Emily dies and the town goes into her home to explore it, they notice that her house is decorated by a style from the seventies. In the beginning of the story, the author explains that over the years, the garages and the cotton gin had been destroyed but only Miss Emily’s house was left with the decay of the cotton wagons and the gasoline pumps. This shows the reader that Emily is still living in the past because she refuses to make her home more modern and more like the rest of the town. Another way that her home is evidence for her living in the past, is when they find Homer dead in the room, they see a suit hung upon a chair, with two shoes and discarded socks. Emily grew up during the Civil War between the Union and Confederate soldiers, and the suit in the room shows the reader that in Emily’s mind, she believes that she’s still in that time period.
When Emily’s father died, mayor Colonel Sartoris, remitted Emily’s taxes because Emily had no one to take care of her and because she was poor, left with just the house. Colonel told her that her father had loaned money to the town and the town preferred remitting her taxes as a way to pay back. The reason Colonel invented this lie was because he knew that Emily would not have took the charity that was offered because Emily was too proud. As time passed by and Colonel was no longer a mayor, on the first of the year, the town mailed her a tax notice. The town did not receive a reply and a week later, the mayor wrote her a letter offering to call or send his car for her and he received a reply along with the tax notice. During the special meeting, Emily argued that she doesn’t have taxes in Jefferson and that they should go and see Colonel Sartoris who had been dead for about 10 years. The reason Emily told the mayor to go see Colonel Sartoris is because Emily cannot let go of the past.
Another example that Emily is living in the past is when she refuses to get a mailbox. When the town got free mail delivery, she would not listen to them and refused to get the metal numbers on her door along with the mailbox. This shows you that not only she wants to isolate herself; it shows you that she does not like change. Putting up a new mailbox indicates that generations are improving with new ideas and she does not want that because she enjoys being in the past.
A factor that I think caused Emily to cling onto the past is the lost of her father. Her father was the only man she was ever close to and her father acted as her husband and her father. Her father emotionally abused her by not allowing her to explore the town and meet new people. The only person she had in her life was her father, and now that he was dead, she was facing a hard time letting go and moving on. The reason for this belief is because when her father died, she was in denial and she held him captive in the house while he was dead for three days.