A Rose for Emily

             In many stories, each character has his or her own trait. In some cases, a character can have multiple traits. When a character possesses multiple traits, he or she becomes a complex character. In the short story "A Rose for Emily", the main character Emily Grierson is a complex character because she is possessive, sheltered, and insane.
             First of all, Emily is possessive of her father and Homer Barron. In the story, the narrator says that when Emily's father dies, she tells visitors, ministers, and doctors for three days that he is not dead and keeps the body (p.133). I believe this makes her possessive of her father because she did not want to let him go. Also, the narrator says that Homer had stated that he was not a marrying man (p. 134) and found in her house when Emily died is a man's fleshless body (p. 136). I believe that the body is Homer's. I also believe that this makes her possessive of Homer because she wanted to marry him, and if he would not marry her, she would find a way to keep him forever.
             Secondly, Emily Grierson is a sheltered character. One example of this would be that after her father died, Colonel Sartoris remitted her taxes (p. 131). Then, the next generation takes over, and they try to get her to pay taxes again (p. 131), but she refuses. I believe that this makes her sheltered because, in my opinion, Colonel Sartoris fells sorry for her for being a single woman and tries to help her out, even though she does not except charity.
             In another light, Emily is sheltered when it comes to her father. He drove away all the young men when she was young, so she had to cling to him (p. 133). When Homer Barron first came to town, the townspeople said they were glad that Miss Emily would have an interest, because a Grierson would not think seriously of a Northerner, a day laborer, and not even grief could cause a real lady to forget noblesse oblig
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A Rose for Emily. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 17:52, March 28, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/7246.html