Usually when one looks at a person parent, one can tell exactly how they are going to turn out. Most of the time that has to do with the way that parent chooses to raise their children. In the short story "A Rose for Emily" by William Faulkner, Emily's relationships were predicted by her father's actions when she was a child, which made her alone and longing for a male relationship.
Throughout Emily's life, the town was obsessed with her behavior. It seemed as if no one in the town had anything interesting in their lives, and lived through the gossip of Emily. They watched her every move while, she withered away through all of those years. Her house was even in the center of town and was amongst everyone since the revolution, which made her the center of attention. Although Emily never left her house, it had seemed that she was the focus of everything. As Emily grew older, the more stubborn she became. She still believed many years after Colonel Sartoris" death that she did not have to pay taxes. Although there was a new sheriff in office, she still argued with them about paying the taxes. She turns after quarrelling and states firmly, " See Colonel Sartoris. I have no taxes in Jefferson" (Faulkner 3). Having her not pay any taxes further outcasts her from the town because she was getting separate rules than the others. This situation also showed the town how out of it Emily is. She had not known that Colonel Sartoris had been dead for ten years. This also allowed for further ridicule and gossip to circulate about her. The town also watched Emily go through the issue with the horrible stench inside of her house. This occurrence just allowed the town to have a excuse to talk about her again. They thought that it was, "just another link between the gross, teeming world and the high and mighty Griersons" (4). The gossip that the town has leads them to believe that there has to be some reasons to Emily's strange ways, and her father's upbringing are what closely tie it all together.