A Rose for Emily
William Faulkner
Emily Grierson was never really messed with throughout her life. People refused to confront her on most issues, they feared her and thought she had dealt with enough in her life. The reader is only expected to picture her as a stuck up hermit of sorts throughout the story. However, the big reveal of the skeleton in her closet (Do you get it? It's because she's into necrophilia...) makes the reader have a drastic change in opinion of her. At first the feeling is that of terror and disgust. After all, who could live with a corpse for 40 years?! But, upon review of the story, the reader feels pity. Emily had been alone most of her (normal) life, and when Homer came around she knew that she needed his company so that she didn't die alone. Now her methods of being with Homer were...out of the ordinary, but the intent remains the same. She even got the townspeople talking saying, "'They are married.' We were really glad" (Faulkner 287). She wanted to love him for the rest of her life, but he was having none of it. Personally, it's one of the saddest things I have ever heard of, but nevertheless Emily's unrequited love dilemma didn't stop her. So I now have mixed feelings of fright and sympathy towards her, possibly the oddest combination of emotions I have ever experienced.
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