Refusing Change in A Rose For Emily Essay

A Rose for Emily

The end of the American Civil War signified the end of the Old South's era of greatness. During this time, many southern people refused to accept that their conditions had changed, even though they had bitterly realized that the old days were gone. They kept and cherished the precious memories, and in a fatal and pathetic attempt to maintain the glory of the South, people tended to cling to their old values and customs of the past. Miss Emily Grierson, from A Rose for Emily, was one of those selected representatives. Throughout the story, she refused to accept any change and unsuccessfully attempted to cling to the past.

At first, Emily refused to change her house. The reader first learned of this when her house was described. What was once a beautiful, white and decorated house on a select street had turned into a old, decaying eyesore. Later on, Emilys refused to allow the the post office to number her house and provide her with a mailbox. These actions portrayed Emilys sorry attempt to deny any change and remain the same.

Besides her surroundings, Emily also attempted to hold tight to her previous customs. This was illustrated when she was questioned about her taxes. Though the town wanted her to pay her taxes, Emily refused to believe them and instead told them to see Colonel Sartoris. At the time, Emily was referring to a prior arrangement that had been made between the family and the authority, however Colonel Sartoris had been dead for ten years by this point. By not changing her surroundings or her customs, Miss Grierson was attempting to hang firmly to what used to be, and to what unfortunately no longer existed.

Along with her customs and surrounding, Emily also rejected the possiblility of losing people she had grown accustomed to. The first instance where this occurred was after her father passed away. During this time when people came to offer condolences, Emily told them nothing was wrong. She rejected what they told her about her father being dead and continued doing this for three days. When her father was finally buried, Emily had already endured three days of denial.

Emilys last attempt to cling to the past occurred when she poisoned Homer Barron. Once Emily grew close to him, she wanted to make sure that he would never leave her. In order to ensure that Homer wouldnt leave, Emily poisoned him with arsenic. Emilys fear of change lead to Homers death, which wasnt discovered by the townspeople until Emily died many years later.

Overall, A Rose for Emily, was a very sad story about a once proud familys refusal of change. After the Civil War, the loss of the South greatness coincided with the loss of the Griersons greatness. However, Emily denied these changes. In the story, Emily decided to keep her customs, surroundings and human bonds the same, although the times had changed. Unfortunately, Emilys refusal to change and her inability to accept the present lead to a sad, pitiable life.