A rose for emily

            In William Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily" the character of Miss Emily Grierson goes through a drastic transformation throughout the story. Emily changes from a well brought up girl into an isolated and secluded soul that eventually leads her to a mental breakdown. Her transformation is cause by the extreme scrutiny brought on by her father and the town she lives in. Miss Emily lived during a time when the industrial revolution prevailed. Many differences occurred during that time by the older and new generations. The older members of the town wanted her to behave appropriately and live up to her family name. Meanwhile Emily just wants to be able to express her true self and to look for happiness with someone that loves her. Many perceive this "A Rose for Emily" as a story about a crazy and deranged woman who killed her lover and slept with the body for about forty years. But this is also a story about the gender roles during the Southern mid 1900s. Emily Grierson was caught between who society wanted her to be and whom she really is inside.
             Throughout Emily's childhood she was put under extreme pressure to live up to her family name. The whole town put her up on a pedestal and scrutinized her every move. Right at the beginning of the story, the townspeople are shown with quite an interest in Emily's life. The first paragraph already establishes her status in the town.
             When Miss Emily Grierson died, our whole town went to her funeral: the men through a sort of respectful affection for a fallen monument, the women mostly out of curiosity to see the inside of her house, which no one had seen in at least ten years (Charters 469).
             Since her family once held a major position in the town, she was seen as a monument. They did not go to her funeral out of respect for her; they went to fulfill their growing curiosity of her life all through the years. Every since Emily was a young girl, she was sheltered from the outside world.