A Rose for Emily: Viewpoint Essay Example

of, just her father, which she lived with alone other then family servants until he died.

Upon her father’s death, this early trauma is shown in her mental and emotional state, or therefore lack of. Her father was her only friend, he was ll she knew in the world, and with out him she almost had nothing to live for. “Being left alone, and pauper, she had become humanized. ” (Page 31) this quote shows that Emily didn’t have the slightest clue how to survive on her own without her father, but now she was forced to grow up and get along all by herself. Soon after her father’s death, townspeople came by to offer condolence to the girl who had lost the person she really knew. This repression of Emily’s father dying was bursting at the seems when she proclaimed to them that her father hadn’t died! This epression and fear of abandonment go hand in hand with each other, Emily is now left alone unaware of what to do with herself now that her father or tyrant wasn’t around to order her around.

Soon after she ignored orders to have a proper funeral for her father, she finally broke down and allowed doctors to come and dispose of the corpse. Now that her father was gone, Emily, had been protected so much in her earlier years that this did her a great harm, she was ill prepared for the new generation of the south’s new booming economy. Soon after her father’s death, Emily fell ill.This kept her indoors for a long period of time, leaving the town of Jefferson to prosper without her,

or the Gierson legacy. This was most likely a very strenuous time for Emily, left with nothing but memories of her father.

This time was not spoke of in the text, but I feel it a very important part of Emily’s life history and how she later came to be as an elderly women. Again repression, and fear of abandonment play a very strong role in this story. Emily is now left to put these memories in the back of her head, and go on living out her life, even as unready as she is.Emily would still show herself in a very Gierson like fashion, feeling she was above everyone else, and that she needed no help in grieving with her father’s death.

Once again when she was ready, Emily was seen around town, but not alone, now with a new man in her life. The south at this time, was very rural, and after the slaves had been emancipated, it needed to catch up to the north and very quickly. The Gierson Estate was the last of its kind on the once “select” street on which it was built. New garages, cotton gins, and gas pumps had been built on the street now, leaving Emily’s home to be seen as an eyesore mong townspeople. “Then the newer generation became the backbone and spirit of the town. ” (Page 33) Townspeople remembered Emily’s great aunt, old lady Wyatt, and how she had become completely crazy, hoping Emily would not follow in her foot steps.

In a way the town almost was leaving Emily in the dust, with her old traditions and family believes. But maybe

this didn’t seem to bother her, well it was the way she left her home, covered in dust wasn’t it? So they left Emily alone in this old run down house, with her memories and horrors eating away at her mind and soul.Emily was still stuck in the ways of the past, even when the town’s postal service offered to attach metal numbers and a mailbox to her home, she refused. Emily finally would return to the streets of Jefferson, and due to this new economic boom in the town, she was introduced to Homer Barron. He was from the North, and she the South, right away this would have her father turning over in his grave. With the strong Southern principles he raised her on, he would be devastated to find she was courting with a “common” working man of the North.

Although the ownspeople were happy for Emily, they knew how high above the Giersons held themselves above others, and doubted Emily and Homer being together. But how could Emily actually be in relations with Homer? She never had any suitor her father allowed. Maybe she was seen around with Homer just to spite her father’s tyranny over her, knowing how appalled he would be with her choice of a man. It almost seemed as thing between the two would work, and for once Emily could actually be happy. Towns people contacted Gierson family members about her relations with aNorthern, and at once they arrived in Jefferson. They were a very proud family and knew that Emily could do much better than a day laborer.

Again a fear of abandonment could have arose

in Emily’s mind, not wanting to loose another man close to her the way she lost her father. Homer soon returned to the town, but soon after was never seen again. At this point there were dramatic changes in Emily’s appearance, and definitely her thought process. She was a damaged child, and did not know how to handle situations appropriately. Time passed, and little did we know so did Homer.Emily had killed him.

Maybe she feared being abandoned again, maybe she feared being intimate with Homer? This we do not know, but from the details explained from her past, Emily had major unconscious psychoanalytical problems deep within her. Feeling no control over her life as a child, maybe she felt power in killing Homer, and that she could truly be with him forever by keeping his body in the house. At this point Emily’s Id was controlling her daily routines, she had locked off the upper portion of her home where she kept Homer. Maybe she was trying to lock away ond memories which brought her the greatest joy. Since nobody had been upstairs in nearly forty years, this was maybe a place for joy and peace.

Homer was the only man in her life other than her father to bring her happiness. She felt that by keeping his corpse locked away from everyone else, she really could be with him forever and to preserve their relationship so they could always be together. In her own mind Emily was much better off than anyone in town, therefore she had no superego, only that of the rules that her father put in place for her. She

was so out f touch with the outside world, that from her childhood, she was almost destine for insanity, and truly nothing could have been done to save Ms Emily. While growing up, Emily, never had a “real” relationship with anyone so she probably didn’t know how to approach people.

Her father did her the greatest harm anyone could have, he didn’t let her live her life. Emily was now left alone, in her old eyesore of a house left to live her days out. The town now saw her as almost a burden, even though she had her servant to tend to her, The Gierson Family legacy would soon come to an end.After Emily’s death, the townspeople were even unaware of it because of the secluded life she came to live hiding away in her tomb of a house, with her lover a corpse. She seemed to become schizophrenic in her later years, not being able to tell reality from fiction.

Her lack of being around people, maintaining relationships, and the passing of her father where probably the main cause of this delusional state of mind Emily was now in. Her childhood was very rough, not economically, but in morals and structure. This truly did lead to the demise of her, and my feelings are that nothing really could ave been done to save Ms. Emily. There are many people in this world who believe they live good lives because of what they own and not by what they do.

The Geirson legacy brought Emily down, before she knew it she was already in an uphill struggle just to live a “normal” life. But

who is one to define a normal life, I cannot answer this, in my believes though I know that Emily lived far from it. Many people may have rough upbringing, but it takes only the strong to survive, and from this story it is clear that Ms. Emily was very unprepared for the long, and tedious life she was forced to live out.