Prominent Theme in "A Rose for Emily" by William Faulkner Essay

Introduction

The book, A Rose for Emily, by William Faulkner, talks about a story that took place in Jefferson. The town is known for its social traditional and historical facts. At first, the book beginning by illustrating a funnel service which had been attended a large number of people from the town. All people had come to witness a lady, Emily Grierson, being buried. The author shows a conflict between the newer generation and Emily for the issue of taxes. However, whenever this generation visited Emily to inquire about the tax, she always failed to acknowledge their ideas. She argues that she should not pay the tax, but the issue should be settled by Colonel Sartoris. For a while, people in the town were complaining about a bad smell that occurred from Emily's house. At this period, her father had died and the person whom Emily was to marry abandoned her. After producing a dead body, Emily is followed by a severe illness. Her home becomes a figure that citizens in the town refused on visits. People were so much concentrating on Emily affairs. Due to high depression level, they think that Emily will take poison and kill herself. When Emily died, everybody in the town is seen happy as they watch her being laid to rest. The essay effectively evaluate the theme of isolation as it is used in the book.

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Emily Grierson: A Lonely and Isolated Character

Isolation is the state in which a person is forced to stay alone. This condition is associated with a lot of mental and physical harm. As such, it leads to low self-esteem which results in depression and other mental issues. In the book, the theme of isolation is clearly outlined. The main character, Emily, is isolated both physically and emotionally. From the beginning of the book, Emily is portrayed as a lonely and isolated character. The author says, "When Miss Emily Grierson died, our whole town went to her funeral: the men through a sort of respectful affection for a fallen monument, the women mostly out of curiosity to see the inside of her house, which no one save an old man-servant..."(Faulkner, John and Anjelica, 1). For about ten years, citizens in the town were not allowed to enter or visit Miss Emily. Therefore, she stayed alone and her servants. As such, her death created a chance where citizens from the town could explore what was happening in Emily's house.

The Grierson House: Symbol of Isolation and Resistance to Change

From the start of the book, the author shows the origin of Emily by stating their social status. This was many years before the setting of the book. Due to modern changes and the introduction of new ways of doing things, neighboring people had already built their houses in modern ways. For a long time, horse-drawn carriages were used as a mode of transport. However, the development of technology introduced motorists which were faster as compared to other previous means. Therefore, the town had considerably changed due to the influence of technology. Emily's family did not change their house mode. Hence, the house has some unique characteristics from other building because it was still build using the traditional technique. The author says, "lifting its stubborn and coquettish decay above the cotton wagons and gasoline pumps'' (Faulkner, John and Anjelica, 2). This action is a form of isolation which restricts the family from adopting modern technology. The family claims that it is satisfied with the structure and transport devices.

Mental Illness and Social Stigma: Factors Contributing to Emily's Isolation

From the book, the Grierson family has been associated with some mental illness. The author refers to Emily as 'completely crazy' as he is associated with some negative behaviors. This mental illness makes Emily to be mentioned severally in the narrative. For instance, when Emily denies the death of her father, the author says, "'we did not say [Emily] was crazy'' (Faulkner, John and Anjelica, 6). The author tries to illustrate that Emily may go crazy in the future. For the statement, Emily clearly shows the theme of isolation was mostly triggered by negative social stigma. Social stigma is highly linked with mental illness as it affects how a person reasons toward a particular content.

Emily's Father: The Enforcer of Isolation

Emily's father has also be associated with the theme of isolation. When he was alive, he used to chase away all Emily's boyfriends. According to his perception, he believed that none of those boys had the qualities that would match her girl. The author shows, "none of the young men were quite good enough for Miss Emily'' (Faulkner, John and Anjelica, 5). For a long time, residents of the town always recall about the physical appearance of Emily and her father, "Miss Emily a slender figure in white in the background, her father a spraddled silhouette in the foreground, his back to her and clutching a horsewhip, the two of them framed by the back-flung front door'' (Faulkner, John and Anjelica, 5). This action isolated Emily from boys, and thus, even at the age of thirty, she was still single. Naturally, women at this age are expected to be married and taking care of their family. However, isolation makes it hard for Emily to get a husband. Additionally, her father believed that Emily had some unique traits in which all other boys did not possess. Hence, Emily was on her only social class where no man could access and propose to her.

When her father dies, residents go at home to pay their last respect. However, Emily is so much depressed by the issue, and she says, "completely crazy' on her face'' as she argues that her father is not dead (Faulkner, John and Anjelica, 5). The society is forced to use force so that she can accept her fathers' body to be buried. From the reaction, Emily reacted in that manner due to the influence of loneliness and isolation. As such, the author states, "with nothing left, she would have to cling to that which had robbed her, as people will'' (Faulkner, John and Anjelica, 6). The issue of loneliness had triggered her mind causing her to behave weirdly.

Conclusion

The issue of isolation is also shown when Emily fails to rejoin with society after her father died. According to the author, "after her sweetheart went away, people hardly saw [Emily] at all'' (Faulkner, John and Anjelica, 4). Emily opts to become an outsider, instead of collaborating with the community, "as if that quality of her father which had thwarted her woman's life so many times had been too virulent and too furious to die'' (Faulkner, John and Anjelica, 4). During this period, Emily prefers to give a black male worker the role to manage the premise and other activities in the house. However, Emily was not a friend to the servant. Finally, when Emily dies, the slave lets the resident's ladies in the house then he disappeared.

Works Cited

Faulkner, William, John Carradine, and Anjelica Huston. A rose for Emily. Paderborn, De: Verlag F. Schoningh, 1958.