A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner - Emily Grierson's Tragedy - Essay Example

Emily Grierson’s Tragedy In the story “A Rose for Emily” written by William Faulkner and was first published in the April 30, 1930 issue of the Forum (Rom), the main character, Emily Grierson was initially described in her funeral at the opening of the story. As such, at the onset, readers are made aware of the theme encompassing tragedy, demise, isolation, loneliness, despair. There were just a few characters, with her father, only named “Emily’s father” could be examined as contributory to Emily’s tragedy.

The aim of this essay, therefore, is to present a viable argument that Emily Grierson’s relationship with her father contributed to her tragedy. The description of Emily’s father was presented in paragraph 25 as a “spraddled silhouette in the foreground, his back to her and clutching a horsewhip” (Faulkner 25; cited in Kennedy and Gioia). Likewise, as noted, none of the young men were deemed good enough for Emily and that the townsfolk “remembered all the young men her father had driven away” (Faulkner 28).

In addition, there was emphasis noted to the fact that “the Griersons held themselves a little too high for what they really were” (Faulkner 25). Due to the extreme sheltered existence given to Emily and the prevention of her father to find a suitable man as her husband, Emily remained isolated all her life. By the time her father died, there could actually be some manifestations of mental illness or insanity as it was revealed that Emily refused to admit her father’s death. When the townswomen came to offer their condolences, it was revealed that “Miss Emily met them at the door, dressed as usual and with no trace of grief on her face.

She told them that her father was not dead. She did that for three days, with the ministers calling on her, and the doctors, trying to persuade her to let them dispose of the body. Just as they were about to resort to law and force, she broke down, and they buried her father quickly” (Faulkner 27). The length of time spent totally dependent on her father could have instigated the innate fear of being left alone and therefore, Emily could not accept the fact that this fear was in fact a reality.

Alone and afraid in the house with nothing left to support or sustain her daily living, Emily’s life succumbed to depression and anxiety. When a potential lover in the person of Homer Barron came to her life, the hope of having someone to spend her life with was just what she needed. However, as the story unfolded, it was revealed that Homer Barron, who the townsfolk expected to marry Emily, suddenly disappeared. The mere thought of losing him prompted Emily to kill Homer by poisoning him with arsenic (Faulkner 38).

Still, this feeling of being left isolated could be effectively traced from Emily’s domineering father who failed to think of Emily’s future. Had his father secured her future with a dependable and reliable husband, the tragic death of Homer Barron could have been prevented. Therefore, as the events revealed, Emily Grierson’s relationship with her father actually contributed to her tragedy. Works Cited Faulkner, William. "A Rose for Emily." Kennedy, X. J. and Dana Gioia. Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama.

New York: Harper Collins, 1995. Rom, Estrella. "A Rose for Emily." 2012. scribd.com. 8 April 2012 .