In the famous story by William Faulkner there is a lonely tale of a woman that is living out the better part of her life in a cage. The setting is in a southern town that may aid to the problems she faces. Her father is the type that did not approve of any contact from the men of the town so she was always being held back in the area of socialization. So she started out in a bad situation of not being a part of the community. Her father didn’t see it as proper for her to be as the others her age. The father figure is still a important symbol in her life though.
When he dies she doesn’t accept the fact that he is gone. Her father was the only real person in her life. She had relatives in Alabama but they were pushed away by her father over some land that was left behind by a crazy aunt. The relatives in Alabama were the only were all she had but the old wound inflicted by her father was not going to heal. Then the worst thing happens after her father is gone. The man that she was engaged to runs off and leaves her all alone. She didn’t ever recover form this, she isolated her self in her house.
The only person that saw her on a regular basis was a black man that brought her food when she needed it. The only man that her father must of approved of ran out on her. This must have been the breaking point for her. Loosing the two most important people in her life near the same time must have been unbearable for her. After these two events have passed the community attempts to reach out to her. When her father dies the women on the town try to comfort her but she is still in denial. Then the doctors are sent over and convince her and the body is buried.
The women try to further help her but to no prevail. She just will not let anyone into her life, but then one day she will. One day the unthinkable happens to poor Emily. A man who is in charge of building the new sidewalks comes to town. He is a northerner and a day labor superioeser, not a very respectable carrier. Despite that Emily falls for him and they hit it off. This must have been a hard thing to do for Emily. For one thing it is the first man in her life since her spouse and her father.
Faulkner did not relay go into much detail with the construction worker Homer Barron. Just that they were seen in a carriage riding back form church one Sunday. So time passes by and the sidewalks are finished, time for Homer to leave. Emily will not let another man walk of her life for a third time. From the town people’s point of view everything was fine. Emily went out and got some cloths and a grooming set for Homer. So it appeared everything was fine. But there is a twist, she goes to the drug store and purchases some serious rat poison for no reason. A sort time later Mr.
Barron was seen slipping in after sun set but never seen again. Emily led a sheltered and tormented life. With her father hanging over in her adolescent years totally controlling her life. Keeping her to a mold of how he thought she should be raised in. The thought of another man leaving her must have freaked her out and put her in this position. Mabey killing him was a bit rash, but she must have been really weirder out after all of that . plus the fact that there was insanity in her family may have contributed to that and what she did after she kills him.
This was just psycho, there is no better way to put it. I guess the cloths were to dress the corps and the grooming ideas were to keep him looking as handsome as the day he died. One thing that boggles me, how did she bear the smell that a rotting corps must have put off. I would think that it would be unbearable. This is a sad story that Faulkner has written. It depicts the hard ships that individual who has had so much loss is led to deal with all of her pain. Is it the right way or the wrong way, she just needed some kind of release.