William Faulkner’s story, A Rose for Emily, is surely one of the most stirring works of literature. The short story leaves a very lasting impression among the readers of the piece with the sheer affective appeal of the portrayal, the quintessence of the literary elements and the content of the literary work. A very close introspection of this literary text can make one understand the intricacies and subtleties of the portraiture by Faulkner who treads on an avenue of creative expression so as to express an uncommon side of human emotion and psyche through the character of the female protagonist and the story. Indeed, the character of Emily goes on to show her criminality in the course of the narrative, but one should not miss out on her trait to nurture the loved ones. Although her perspective and actions might come across to be eccentric and not in accordance with normalcy, she is someone who goes on to hold on to her loved ones in a bizarre way.
This short story by William Faulkner portrays the character of Emily Grierson who is the last living person of this proud family in a southern town. Now, it needs to be noted that she is brought up by her father who imbibes in her mind the impression that no person is good enough to be with her. The world of Emily revolves round the domestic space of the mansion she stays in. When her father meets with his demise, Emily Grierson is already in her thirties. One should take into reckoning the loneliness of Emily’s life as she spends most of her time indoors. Also, her only aunt had gone crazy and met with her demise long back. The other relatives are in Alabama leaving her all alone sans any dear ones to stay with her. In fact, when Emily’s father dies, she goes on to opine that he is not dead. As the people of the town visit her place to pay respect to her deceased father and to console Emily, they are only startled to see such a behavior on Emily’s part. She does not even turn the deceased body in for burial, but continues with her charade for as long as three days.
The reaction on her part after the demise of her father can surely be analyzed to be the marker of Emily’s nurturing nature toward her father. Being quite a recluse and not having any companions even by the age of thirty, it is evident that Emily was very much attached to her father who was the closest person in her life. In this story, one finds a lady who is socially awkward and lives a lonely life. It is very obvious that she must have had a very strong bond with her father that led her to be in denial of the fact that he had truly met with his death. She simply could not come to terms with the demise of her father. The fact that Emily suffers from a prolonged ailment after the death of her father goes on to prove how badly she was affected by the incident.
However, she finally seems to come out of her shell after meeting Homer Barron, the contractor who becomes quite popular in the town. The narrative of the story goes on to explicate how the two people are often seen to go out together. Although the people of the town pity Emily as they think she is getting involved with someone below the dignity of her family, she seems to be too much involved with her companion. Her involvement with Homer Barron proves her desire to have a close companion after being left all alone due to the death of her father. While Emily mostly stayed indoors, she opts to come out with Homer, and this shows that she wished to nurture the relationship they were having. She even came over her societal awkwardness so as to mingle with Homer. However, Emily’s reputation gets further compromised owing to the affair with Homer Barron.
Emily gets hold of arsenic, a very strong poison, and it starts the speculation among the people of the town that she might end her life. However, she continues to see Homer and even orders a silver toilet set that has Homer’s initials monogrammed on it. Homer is seen for the last time entering the house of Emily one evening. With the rumors of the marriage still making rounds, time passes with Emily becoming totally recluse. She never gets married to Homer, and hardly anyone can surmise what has befallen upon the relationship. Years pass by, and people only discover the fate of Homer after Emily Grierson dies herself at the old age of seventy four. Emily had kept the body of Homer Barron inside the top floor of the mansion. The room had all the articles of the marriage and also a man’s suit stretched out. The people find an indentation of a head in the pillow with a long strand of Emily’s gray hair on that pillow.
It becomes clear that Emily had poisoned Homer and had preserved his body as well as belongings. Although Emily shows signs of mental disorder that made her perform such an act of murder and the following preservation of the body, it needs to be noted that she did endeavor to nurture her lover in the bizarre way. It becomes evident that she would sleep on the bed beside the dead body. It would be correct to conclude by opining that a lonely individual like Emily was encompassed with insecurity about relationships and she always wanted to cling to her near ones. She craved to be in control of her relationship and equations with others. That is why she did not acknowledge her father’s demise in the beginning. For the same reason she killed Homer and preserved his body. It can be comprehended that Emily had a strange sense of nurture that get exuded in her behavior. The story goes on to delve deep into this characteristic trait of Emily Grierson and shows her twisted sense of nurture that got extended to her close people whom she loved.
Works Cited
Abcarian, Richard & Klotz, Marvin & Cohen, Samuel. Literature: The Human
Experience: Reading and Writing, 11th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2012. Print.
