anonymous

When Miss Emily died Jefferson lost a prominent monument of the Old South. As this dilemma ensues she isolates herself from civilization, using her butler to run her errands so she doesn't have to talk much. The combined darkness and odor of the house relate with Miss Emily in some of the following ways, with her dry and cold voice as if it were scrappy and dry from disuse just like her house. In ending, the citizen's illustrations of both house and its occupant relate a common unattractive presence. An example, she is first described as a "fallen monument" to suggest her former grandeur and her later ugliness. Miss Emily lies to herself as she denies her father's death, refuses to discuss or pay taxes, ignores town gossip about her being a fallen woman, and does not reveal to the druggist why she is purchasing arsenic. Similarly Miss Emily proudly surveys her deteriorating once-grand estate. Once she had been a beautiful woman, who later becomes obese and bloated. She is well aware of the distant whispers that begin when her presence is near. Most of these opinions seem to result from female citizens of the town because of their nosy and a gossipy approach toward Miss Emily. This leaves Miss Emily in a terrible position. Through lack of attention, the house has deteriorated from a beautiful estate, to an ugly desolate shack. This story by Falkner contains a high rate of symbolism thoroughly distributed and revealed by shady foreshadowing. The citizens or the narrator mention old lady Wyatt, Miss Emily's great aunt who had gone completely mad. Homer described himself as a man who couldn't be tied down and is always on the move.