Research paper on A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner

The story A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner is a psychological story which discusses many significant inner problems of an individual. This story can be regarded as a story about the human heart in conflict with itself because the main character of story Emily Grierson faces a lot of psychological problems which she fails to solve in a proper way. Although Emily realizes that it is possible to change something in her life, she remains in conflict with herself.

Emily is in deep depression because of her father’s death. It is known that her father was a powerful and selfish man who did not allow Emily to marry and drove away those young men who came to court his daughter. In addition, the relation of community members played an important role in Emily’s life. Miss Emily was a representative of aristocracy of a high social class, and she was denied the involvement in the community of the town. When she met Homer Brown and faced with no love from him, she decided to kill him by means of arsenic poison. The main reason is that she found out that he was gay. Emily did not want the townspeople to know about his sexuality.

Miss Emily’s disobedience, her desire to avoid communication and meet life solely, her ignorant relation to the established traditions and laws led to horrifying end.  Emily refused to accept changes in her life and to live in real world. She rejected the death of her father: “My daddy is not dead” (Faulkner 9). She refused to pay taxes and to participate in the activities of the community: “I have no taxes in Jefferson” (Faulkner 29).

To sum up, Emily is a victim of her own character. She is in conflict with herself. It is possible to conclude that she is a weak person who could not accept changes in her life and who did not find social support in the town.