A Rose For Emily

Her name was Emily Grierson. A woman who's life has been the talk of the town, ever since her father died. Written by William Faulkner, he brings this character alive using many details and descriptions of her and her environment. He describes her in ways that give us insight into her personality. She is a small, fat, woman who's frame was small. "Her eyes, lost in the fatty ridges of her face, looked like two small pieces of coal pressed into a lump of dough..." (Faulkner pg. 81) This depiction implies that Emily has a stare and eyes that are very unnerving. In one instance he writes her as having short hair making her look like a girl and a resemblance to angels in church windows. This was after her father died and shows an almost kind of shift in her personality, almost blissful. "...cold, haughty black eyes...as you imagine a lighthouse-keeper's face ought to look." (Faulkner pg. 84) A lighthouse-keeper is probably awake a lot and doesn't get much sleep, a job which would breed impatience. This is when she bought the poison from the druggist. This interaction seems to show that Emily is a powerful woman with a Medusa-like gaze that demands authority.

When Faulkner describes her environment, it is also in ways that seem to allude to her personality. In the first page he describes her house. He starts talking of when the house was new and how fancy and nice it was. Like Emily when she was young. But encroaching cotton gins and garages have caused the property to lose its charm. Emily's father has encroached on her own freedom and will, causing her to lose her charm. Then, "...Miss Emily's house was left, lifting its stubborn and coquettish decay above the cotton wagons and gasoline pumps..." (Faulkner pg. 80) This quote paints a very dark and dirty picture and seems to symbolize Emily's own stubbornness and emotional decay. Emily never left the house and was only seen in the windows. One