‘A Rose for Emily’ was Faulkner’s first short story to be published in a major American magazine. The story consists of five sections. In the first section, the author narrates about the death of Emily and how people from the whole city attended Emily’s funeral in here home where nobody has ever been before. In the second section, the narrator explains how Emily had earlier resisted a formal investigation from the administrators of the town after the residents in town noticed a bad smell originating from her house. That was about thirty years earlier when her father had passed on. Sections three consists of the author’s narration about Emily’s long illness immediately after her father died. The narrator also describes how Emily became friends with Homer Barron, one of the town leaders. Emily was later seen purchasing a very poisonous drug from a local store and she refused to disclose what she intended to do with the poison as required by law. In the fourth section the author narrates how people in town speculated that Emily would kill herself with the poison she purchased. The narrator also explains how Homer Barron was seen one evening entering Emily’s home and he was never seen again. Emily’s home became no go zone for outsiders except the servant. She remained in the house until she died. In the fifth section the narrator narrates what happened after Emily’s death and how Homer Barron’s body was found in the house.
Discussion
Although the life of Emily is greatly influenced by her father, it is not worth to put blame on all Emily’s miseries to her late father Mr. Grierson. She does not have friends or family, apart from her servant, but she should be in a position to make sound decisions. When she decides to chase the new board of members who had taken over the leadership of the town after Colonel Sartoris, she is making a grave mistake. Colonel Sartoris had exempted Emily from paying taxes because of what the community owes her father. However, she should understand that the person who had given her this privilege is no longer the mayor. Emily tells the new board that it should conduct Colonel Sartoris about her taxes but the Colonel has been dead for ten years. This implies that she should sit down with the new members and come out with a plan that will befit all. She is not in touch with what happens around her because her father never allowed her to venture in the outside.
The loss of a parent brings suffering to a child, but it is important to note that Emily should take control of her life after her father dies. After the death of her father, Emily refuses to accept that she will never see him again when she tells the women that came to mourn with her that her father is not dead. The women have to coerce to accept to release her father’s body for burial. Although her father was very authoritative as evidenced by a portrait hanging on the walls of his parlor whereby he is holding a whip, this does not stop Emily from feeling the loss. However, this can be attributed to the fact that Emily’s one of her aunts succumbed to madness. In addition, people still feel pity for her, for having lost her aunt to madness. These makes the life of Emily complicated but she could have resulted in making friends with her neighbors in a bid to turn her life around.
After Emily turns thirty and no signs of a suitor to marry her, she surprises the people in the neighborhood when she befriends Barron Homer; a manager at a company awarded the tender to pave sideways. This is despite the fact that Emily is not in the same social class with Barron Homer. People around the town are shocked to see Emily riding together with Homer. Her father hated people of low social classes and chased very many suitors for her daughter, but after his death, she has a chance to do what she thinks is right. However, things do not work out well for Emily especially after she realizes that she does not have a big chance of marrying Homer. When she buys a strong drug, arsenic, people are worried that she might use it to commit suicide. On the contrary, the people cannot do much because Emily is not social. In a bid to run away from reality, she decides to lock herself in her parlor where no strangers are allowed in for around ten years. Moreover, she never pays taxes because she is still living in the past when Colonel Sartoris was still the mayor. She refuses to accept the changes that are happening around her.
Generally, Emily had a life of misery; however, she should have ignored that try to change everything back to normal. She does not try to change her life as evidenced by the things that she does in her life. When she realizes that she might loose Homer, she decides to lock herself and Homer in her father’s parlor. She does not want to accept that life is full of challenges, which people need to face head on. Friends are important in ones life and this leads to tragic ending of the life of Emily. Her father’s parlor looks dusty to show that the good life that her father intended for cannot be achieved. Parents ought to understand the importance of giving their children the freedom to make choices when they are young in order to have chances of offering advice before it is too late.
Conclusion
According to my keen overview of this book, wealth alone cannot add up to a happy life. At the same time, it is quite imperative for an individual to have an ability to make decisions. Emily is confronted with dilemmas in her life, but is quite unfortunate that until her death, she keeps on making wrong choices. In my opinion, her worst failure in life is that she leads a life of denial. The implication here is that she does not accept situations as they dawn in her life. It is not good to live in self-denial. Although the life of Emily is influenced by the behavior of her father, living in self-denial is the worst decision that she takes, because it leads in situations whereby that person makes the wrong decisions, which she could have avoided in the first place.
