Response to "A Rose For Emily"

This short story was not a sane story. For starters, Emily the main character was mentally, physically and emotionally human. Although, her father made her completely out casted from reality. Emily's father did not want her growing up. But she felt obligated to love him even after he died. He was good to her and after his death she never had to pay taxes. This is why she was excluded from the real world She had no idea what taxes were. He never let Emily love another man besides him. He especially never let her get married off. After Emily's father passed the towns people became of her suspicious ways to the outside world. When the towns people said "We remembered all the young men her father had driven away, and we knew that with nothing left, she would have to cling to that which had robbed her, as people will." Basically, Emily's father robbed her of her happiness to love anyone other than him. Back then in the late 1800's and early 1900's it was likely that a woman fall in love, get married and start a family when they neared their early
20's. So when the towns people noticed that Emily entering her early thirties was not married off yet they knew that there is something terribly wrong with the Griersons. The people of the town knew that it was a travesty when Emily had not been married by the age of thirty. The towns people quoted "so when she got to be thirty and was still single, we were not pleased exactly, but vindicated; even with insanity in the family she wouldn't have turned down all of her chances if they had really materialized." What the towns people meant by this quote is even though most of the Griersons were crazy they still should have told Emily and made it very clear to her that it is okay to love and have feelings; everyone gets hurt now and again but that is life. This is why the father of Emily stood in the way of Emily's affection to love another man.