In “A Rose for Emily,” William Faulkner writes about an eccentric woman named Emily. She refused to give up her father’s body for burial and later killed her lover, Homer.
Subsequently, she slept with Homer’s corpse for several years after she killed him. I do not know anyone in real life who acts like Emily. However, she reminds me of a character called Norman Bates in the show Bates Motel who killed and taxidermized his mother.
It is disconcerting to think that such creepy people live among us. One thing I did not understand about the story was why Emily acted the way she did. Either she had succumbed to insanity similar to her great aunt or she had become a freak due to her father isolating and controlling her life before his death.
Further research on topic
- Formalist Criticism of “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner
- Narrative Perspective of “A Rose for Emily” by William Falkner
- Symbolism in “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner
- “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner
- Point of View in Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily”
- The Character of Miss Emily in Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily”
- Theme of “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner
- “A Rose for Emily”: Violence and Mental Illness in William Faulkner’s Short Story