"A Rose for Emily," by William Faulkner, is a short story telling the dark and decaying life of Emily Grierson. The story keeps the reader's attention by having a very suspenseful style of writing. It also portrays how life might have been for many "higher class" individuals in the south during that era, as drastic changes began to take place. Faulkner's writing was turned into a short film in the 1980s. The film portrays the imagery written in the short story very accurately, but also has a few subtle differences. Emily's personality disorders are evident throughout the story, leaving readers curious what goes on behind her closed doors.
As mentioned earlier, Faulkner's short story was later turned into a short film in the 1980s. The film gives more incite on Emily's life before her father passes away. It gives a better idea of how Emily got her stubborn personality. Her father is portrayed as an arrogant man who believes no man is quite good enough for his precious daughter. Emily looks to her father for everything. She is devastated when he suddenly passes away at dinner. Thus, leaving Emily with no one but her butler, and the house. Additionally, Emily is said to be a short, fat woman as she becomes older in the short story. This doesn't seem to be the case in the film. She is shown as a tall, beautiful woman played by young Anjelica Huston. The only time Emily is seen as an old woman in the film is at the funeral, when her face is briefly shown laying in the casket. In the short story she is described as a short, fat woman when she allows the city authorities into her home to discuss her taxes. Furthermore, Emily Grierson suffers from severe abandonment issues. This seems to have started when her father passed away. She opens her closed heart for a man to enter her life, but later finds out he isn't the "marriage type." Emily seems to have caught onto this, even though it wasn't told directly to her by her lover Homer Barron.