Student Essay on A Rose for Emily

A Rose for Emily

In Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily" the character Emily is woman who never learned to be independent. Her dependent behavior is due to her father; his overbearing behavior doomed Miss Emily's future. Emily was raised to be very dependent on the only male figure in her life, her father. The relationship between Emily and her father establishes the pattern that would lead to her future actions toward the male figures throughout her life, Colonel Sartoris, Homer Baron and Tobe. Even though there were few males in her life, Miss Emily was dependent on them at one time or another and was unable to let go of the men that she encountered during her lifetime.

The first male figure in Miss Emily's life, and the one that caused Emily's dependency, is her father. All through Emily's life, her father would keep her close at home and didn't allow her to see other men. One of the towns people describes how overbearing Mr. Greirson is: "Miss Emily slender figure in white in the background, her father a spraddled silhouette in the foreground, his back to her and clutching a horsewhip, the two of them framed by the back-flung front door" Page2 Handout. In this scene we see Emily's father keeping the male suitors away. His actions seem very strange as if he was keeping Emily for himself, suggesting they may have been an incestuous relationship. This course of action causes Emily to rely solely on her father until the day he dies. The death of Mr. Greirson leaves Emily in denial and she does not want to face reality, she tried to keep her fathers dead body. This proves her inability to let go of the first male figure in her life.

Miss Emily's next male figure is one that helps her early in her life after the death of her father, Colonel Sartoris. Sartoris was able to remit Emily's taxes under the impression that the town owed her father money. This act of kindness by the Colonel caused Emily's dependence upon him. Later in the story, the Board of Alderman approached Miss Emily at her house in the attempt to get her to pay her taxes. When the Board started questioning Miss Emily about why she would not pay she told them to talk to Colonel Sartoris, who had been dead for ten years. Even though the Colonel had been dead for ten years the old women insisted they see him and leave her alone. Emily's dependency on Colonel Sartoris caused her to believe he was still alive, showing again how she is not able to let go of the male figures in her life.

The most disturbing evidence of Miss Emily's male problems is her interaction with Homer Barron. Homer was a foreman who was in town helping with the construction of sidewalks. Emily became infatuated with Homer and would have probably married him. Unfortunately for her he was not the marrying type. When it came time for Homer to leave, Miss Emily could not deal with that as she had become dependent on him. In order to keep him for herself, she poisoned and killed him. This shows how extreme her dependency on male figures was.

The last dependency I would like to address that I think is most overlooked is her dependency of Tobe, her slave. Emily has been dependent on Tobe from the time her father died and she decided to become a recluse. Tobe did all the shopping, cleaning and kept quiet about everything that went on in that house. Emily relied on him until the day she died and all her secrets were kept because Tobe disappeared without a trace.

Miss Emily was a deeply troubled woman who never learned to be independent. Emily's unhealthy attachment to her father as I said earlier suggests that she may have had an incestuous relationship with her father. Their relationship caused Emily to lead a life of confusion. She never understood the "normal " male female relationship. Her father's death brought denial, as did Colonel Sartoris' death. When Homer came around Emily couldn't afford to have another man leave her; she did what she thought was necessary. Emily's dependency on her father is what led to her to depend on each man she came in contact with, keeping each close to her anyway she could.