A Rose for Emily

            William Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily" takes place in a town called Jefferson. It began by telling that the character Miss Emily Grierson had died, and everyone in the town attended her funeral. The men attended "through a sort of respectful affection for a fallen monument, the women mostly out of the curiosity to see the inside of her house"(28). Miss Emily's family was the upper class of the town, and was respected because her father had loaned the town money. Emily Grierson had a streak of general insanity, along with an insane pride, as is shown in her relationship with her father, her place in the community, and her problem with distinguishing the present from the past. .
             First, Miss Emily's father, a selfish and dominating man, whose love was protective, thought that none of the young men was good enough for their name, so he discouraged them and drove all of them away. However, when he died, he left Emily loveless and with nothing but a house. "Being alone, and a pauper, she had become humanized" (31). Homer Barron, Emily's suitor, had an interesting resemblance to Emily's domineering father. Emily's crime the murdering of Homer Barron is a second attempt to keep a father figure from deserting her. Furthermore, the tragedy was to show Emily's inability to escape the influence of her repressive father.
             However, Miss Emily's relation to the small community of Jefferson is of great significance. The feelings of the community towards Miss Emily were very complicated. It's kind of a love-hate relationship. Miss Emily was denied normal participation in the life of the community because she represented a traditional lifestyle of a higher social class than most people did. Furthermore, Miss Emily was "a tradition, a duty, and a care"(29). She had become part of the history of the town. She was kind of a monument. When Miss Emily died, she became their fallen monument.
             Emily Grierson held tight to her family's past.