A Rose for Emily: Homer Is The Victim Essay

In William Faulkner’s well-known short story, â€Å"A Rose for Emily†, the townspeople of a rural Mississippi town share their thoughts and views of the late 19th century upper class through tales of the lonely Miss Emily Grierson. Miss Emily is a fallen symbol of wealth and prestige who has become a recluse within her own home after the death of her father. Due to her peculiar ways, the citizens living in her hometown develop a curiosity regarding her life. Through the citizens, Faulkner shows Miss Emily cannot adhere to society’s expectations. A house reveals a person’s life without exactly knowing their past or background. To an extent, the appearance of a person’s house forms how neighbors view each other, especially someone as reluctant to visitors as Miss Emily. Because the townspeople do not know much about their inquisitive neighbor, they judge her based on her disheveled home. Describing it as â€Å"an eyesore among eyesores,† their disapproval of the Grierson estate â€Å"that had once been white, decorated with cupolas and spires and scrolled balconies in the heavily lightsome style of the seventies, set on what had once been our most select street† was a concern among the townspeople (Faulkner). Her neighbors viewed the house as a run down building that caused embarrassment to the town. Miss Emily’s lack of landscaping for her property made her an outcast among the townspeople. Other complaints were filed due to Miss Emily’s house reeking of a pungent smell. The town was so annoyed with the vile scent they decided to douse the outskirts of her home with lime. This showed the occupants of the town were disapproving of her lifestyle, like an American would be annoyed with the hygienic habits of a French citizen, whose culture differs from the United States. In society, there is a certain standard people must meet to be respected by others. One significant standard is staying up to date with their tax payments. According to Miss Emily, she did not have to adhere to tax notices like the rest of the town because her father loaned money to the town decades ago, which still equates to her remittal of taxes. However this changed, â€Å"When the next generation, with i ts more modern ideas, became mayors and alderman, this arrangement created some little dissatisfaction† (Faulkner). They began to mail her tax notices with many going unattended too. Eventually, they surrender to Miss Emily’s stubbornness. If it had been any other citizen in town, there would be repercussions to one omitting their taxes and not being a servile citizen. However, Miss Emily is able to get away with this because she is difficult to deal with and will not conform to the towns wishes. The town believes she has an unstable mind and makes exceptions due to her diverse behaviors. Because of Miss Emily’s resistance to her civil duty, the townspeople were disappointed in Miss Emily and wondered why she was so obstinate. They disapprove of her actions, but reluctantly give in to her wishes because there is no way to reason with Miss Emily. Another way Miss Emily did not act as the others was her denial of her father’s death. It took Miss Emily three days to adjust to her father’s passing and truly acknowledge her father was deceased. Although it is customary for people to grieve, the exceeded amount of time Miss Emily clung to her dead father bemused the townspeople. When they visited to offer their condolences, Miss Emily did not act like an average person. They were uncomfortable because Miss Emily held onto her father’s cadaver and did not bury it like typical people do. Because of Miss. Emily’s extended amount of time with her father’s deceased body, she was not accepted among the townspeople. It created an enigma in their mind and they did not give plaudits of her actions. Due to this, Miss Emily bewildered the townspeople which created friction between them. Since the townspeople could not pinpoint Miss Emily’s personality, they believed she was an unusual person who could not represent the rest of society well, due to the fact she was dissimilar to their clichà © ways. Because Miss Emily was â€Å"a tradition, a duty, and a care; a sort of hereditary obligation upon the town,† the townspeople had an obvious expectation of Miss Emily (Faulkner). This did not seem to have an effect on Miss Emily because she showed no desire to conform. Miss Emily knew she was not popular among the townspeople; however, it did not concern her. Unfortunately, Miss Emily did not meet them through her unkempt house, disregard for taxes and peculiar way of grieving. Miss Emily was perceived as an odd character; she was not accepted among the townspeople for her individual way of handling situations and viewing life, mainly due to the fact they differ from society’s.