A Rose For Emily

            
            
             In the story "A Rose for Emily", by William Faulkner, Emily Grierson lived her later years in life as a social outcast due to her personality. Growing up near Jefferson, Mississippi following the Civil War, she belonged to the upper class and seemed to easily pick up the behavior that came along with being born into a wealthy family. As time went on, her life began to go downhill, especially after the death of her father. Throughout Faulkner's story, Emily's delusional and stubborn traits caused her to be separated from society.
             At first, Emily's actions were viewed as strange by the townspeople. A lot of people in town seemed to be confused by her the way she handled things. This really began to show when her father died. People would come over to the Grierson house to console "poor Emily", but only got to the front door to hear Emily say her father was not dead. It almost took law enforcement to get in the house and bury the now three-day-old corpse. Emily's life was then proved to be delusional several days after her death. When a locked room upstairs was opened for the first time, it showed she had been sleeping with her lover Homer Barron, who unfortunately had been dead for thirty years.
             Emily's stubbornness was definitely another factor that set her apart from other citizens in town. When she talked, she seemed to always think she was right and made it seem as if anyone she argued with was wasting her time. She shows this stubborn and tough attitude when it came to pay her taxes. Even when city authorities went to her house to collect, she sternly said to them "I have no taxes in Jefferson"(pg 76), and wouldn't even let them finish their sentences to say she actually did. Another case was when she appeared in the drug store to buy arsenic. The druggist seemed puzzled and tried to explain how she was probably making a wrong decision, but her tough and stubborn attitude led him to be intimidated by her enough to say no more, and to even make up a reason to make her purchase legal.