A Profile of Emily Grierson: neither lunatic, criminal, nor a heroine.
Emily, the principal character of the story “A rose for Emily” of William Faulkner, was born into a very rich family with great possessions inheriting from their wealth ancestors. At her feudal time, women had to obey what their father, brother, and husband told them. At her age, she was expected to obey, to follow with exactly care. Like other women, Emily was estranged by her father. She did not talk to him much. She had to spend the most of her life time with many serious restrictions. As a result, she retaliated, and created a new adaptation of her personality. In this story, Emily was described with an extremely pride. She is not young anymore, however, throughout the story, we can consider her as any young child, and easily being controlled.
In addition, Emily reacted to her situation in her youth just like any other child in this time. She was satisfied with the highest respect, as could be seen in the following quotation “So when she got to be thirty and was still single, we were not pleased exactly…”. This quotation did not state, or show her obedience directly. However, the meaning was implied. Although she had a lot of men who wanted to marry her, and her father just sent them away, and she did nothing to avoid this matter. This clearly statement showed that she was an agreeable child.
After the dead of her father, Emily quickly grew up with the manner which she has never had it in her own life. In fact, she began to look at the world with her arrogant eyes. Perhaps the reason is that she grew up in a big esteemed family. To her, those in the “lower class” men were something that she was not only used to but also disgusting. After some time she recognized what people of the town say “a girl, with a vague resemblance to those angels in colored church windows – something like terrible and
quiet. This is the reason why we can say that her father’s death...