William Faulkner's short story "A Rose for Emily" is an intriguing story of a woman in a small town at the turn of the century named Emily. As the story progresses the character of Emily is conformed to the ideals of her father, her social stature, and the townspeople that narrate the story. The character of Emily is complex and a number of things contribute to the development of her character and her eventual submission to insanity.
             The narrator explores how Emily is defined in the position of the town by her name and her father, "People in our town, [...], believed the Griersons held themselves a little too high for what they really were." (624). Emily's father had been controlling during her early life and had stopped all suitors from visiting her, "We remembered all the young men her father had driven away, [...]." (624). Emily is forced to live in a house where her father's will is paramount to her own (Fetterly 193). When Emily's father dies we understand this loss is almost too much for her to bear, "Miss Emily met them at the door, dressed as usual with no trace of grief on her face. She told them her father was not dead." (624). The denial of her father's death is explained by the narrator: "and we knew that with nothing left, she would cling to that which had robbed her, as people will" (624). This is where Emily's insanity starts to become clear. The narrator also explores the way in which the townspeople define Miss Emily as "a tradition, a duty, and a care; a sort of hereditary obligation upon the town" (622). This definition, however, is narrowly drawn. Her rank can also be seen as one with the "representatives of those August names, [...], graves of Union and Confederate soldiers who fell at the battle of Jefferson. The narrator connects her with the past and her
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