A Rose for Emily is a story about a character named Emily who had a lot of issues that forever affected her life. The story begins at her funeral and ends at her funeral. The plot was a flashback of Emilys life in the south, post civil war time. She seemed to be a symbol of purity but really wasnt. It seems like past issues of her life led to the reasons why she murdered her boyfriend Homer.
One reason why Emily murdered Homer was because her whole life, she father thought that no one was good enough for her so she was always alone. If any guy came near her, she would get beat by her father with a horse whip. 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(82). It probably affected her mentally for her whole life, knowing that she was going to be alone forever because of her father.
Another reason why Emily murdered Homer because of her history is because he was always out drinking with the guys and never home so she was still alone. Homer himself had remarked- he liked men, and it was known that he drank with the younger men in the Elks Club (84). Homer not being home and her always being home as a child reminded her of maybe Homer acting like her father and leaving her alone. She might have thought that sooner or later, he was not going to come back because he was using her.
The last reason why I think that she murdered Homer because of personal reasons is because he was a bachelor and a Yankee. No one in the town liked seeing her with him anyways because they all knew he was a bachelor. If she didnt kill him then he would eventually leave. She represented the purity of the south and he was representing the north. So when she killed him and kept him in the upstairs of the house, he wasnt going to be able to leave her. He was going to be Emilys forever. She was very stubborn and that having Homers dead body there, made her feel safe and not alone.
As you can see, due to personal history, it resulted to reasons why she murdered Homer. She was very mentally unstable and it affected her. Most of the blame was from her father and her past history. If she actually lived a better life and wasnt left with nothing and wasnt alone most of her life, I think it would have been a lot different. She might have been happily married and lived a joyful life.
Work Cited
Faulkner, William. A Rose for Emily. The Compact Bedford Intro to Literature. Ed. Michael Myer 7th Edition. Boston: Bedford 1st Martins, 2006. 80.
Already have an account? Log In Now
5063