The Function of the Father in William Faulkner’s A Rose for Emily

When someone is raised with the idea that they have a greater status than others, they may oppose change out of concern that it would lower their standing in society. Miss Emily Grierson was born at a time when wealthy families often resided in large, extravagant residences (Faulkner 308). These families were regarded as self-made aristocrats and often believed themselves to be superior to their contemporaries. Because they thought others were below their standards of life, individuals in Miss Emily’s day often only had a limited amount of contact with others. By prohibiting Miss Emily from hanging out with other young people with whom she may have gotten along, her father exemplified this in the narrative. Because they did not share their family’s traditional aristocratic lineage, her father was vehemently opposed to male callers (Faulkner 311).

Miss Emily, keeping with her conventional way of life, seems to be satisfied to follow her father’s rules and guidelines. She never made an effort to mingle with other local residents in an effort to rebel against her father. The locals, however, started to depart from the ancient custom as the years went by, but Miss Emily was pleased to stick with her conventional upbringing. However, upon her father’s passing, Miss Grierson seems to be a miserable, lonesome lady who is trapped in earlier contemporary conventional times and has no companions (Faulkner 312). She refused to acknowledge that her father had passed away, demonstrating her resistance to the change. She even continued her everyday activities while spending many days in the home with his dead corpse.

My belief is that her father is mostly to blame for the behaviors she started exhibiting after he passed away. It seems that his strictness hindered her from interacting with people and from accepting how the community was changing. She did this by dressing in the same traditional garb and doing zero upkeep on her home as it started to fall apart around her (Faulkner312). After the local town men had to forcefully remove Miss Emily’s dead father from the house, her solitude and loneliness were reduced to the mad person she had become. One can only assume that she was still holding on to her father, who was the only person she had any traits with. She wished for everything to go on as normal, with only she and her father continuing to live their regular lives. She undoubtedly did so to cling to her father’s presence in the house when she refused to have his remains removed (Faulkner 311). After her father passed away, one may assume that she would socialize with the locals to get away from the loneliness of living without her father.

She often refused to allow them in when they came to call on her to show that she did not want them to visit her. She seemed to be comforted by locking herself inside a large mansion that was formerly one of the area’s opulent residences. She seems to be aging quickly in her seclusion, coupled with her messy house. After her father passed away, it seemed that the only person she had left to look after her was her father’s devoted manservant. She seemed to give up on ever finding happiness. She stayed in the same condition of mind and body throughout the years, paying little attention to any significant changes the town was undergoing. Before she eventually finds a guy who did not mind being seen with her in front of the locals after what feels like a decade, the townspeople had not seen her. She had finally found happiness, but she had been tricked by a guy who was content to maintain company with her but not take her as his wife. Miss Emily was aware that she lived in a time when being often seen with a guy without the goal of getting married to him would generate a lot of rumors (Faulkner 313).

She was almost pleased for the first time since her father’s passing (Faulkner 312). She reverted to her previous skewed state of mind and way of thinking when she realized Homer would not agree to marry her. She killed Homer and continued to live with his decomposing remains as if he were still alive (Faulkner 316). I believe Miss Emily may have had a happy life if she had sought medical help following the passing of her father. Her life may have been different if she had acknowledged that the community was undergoing substantial change, that outdated customs were disappearing, and that fresh ideas were replacing them. If Miss Emily had embraced the adjustment, her life may have been much healthier and happier.