The story of Emily Grierson is in an environment of the old generation. She was brought up by a father, who tried to totally control her life. In the young years of Miss Grierson, she did not have friends.
For the seventy years that Emily lived not many citizens of Jefferson saw her. The relationship between the community of the town and Miss Grierson was not direct. What happened in her house was always a mystery to the neighbors and the community at large. Her reputation and beliefs challenged even the authorities of the town. The life of Miss Emily revolved around her home.
In the story, the writer depicts Miss Emily as a character, who is confined to herself and her beliefs, leaving her house only to go to the shops or the church. The character of Homer Barron is seen to show the social nature of Miss Emily. The environment in which Emily lived in demand for change. The controversial life of Miss Emily was equally portrayed by the house that she lived in. The house was sandwiched between new and modern houses. Civilization in her compound was not welcomed.
She was referred to as a fallen monument in the history of Jefferson. In the story, Miss Emily had problems with the fellow community members on the state of her home. She had a lot of rats in her house and her house servant had to buy the poison. After the death of her father, it is told that she stayed with his copse for some time. It is recorded that she had not left th house for weeks.
She used the Negro servant to do her shopping and maintain her house. She was sympathetic to her father thus mourned him for a long time. This is portrayed by the act of not burying him on time. It had to take the intervention of the weak nature of women to fall out.
The sympathy expressed by Miss Emily to her father’s death was so strong that she opted to stay with the copse in the house. Towards the end of the narration, we are informed of the death of Homer Barron. Her lover whom she had planned to marry was found rotten in the top room. The awful smell that the neighbors felt came from the copse. This indicated her sympathetic nature to those that she loved and was close to.
Homer Barron was one of the rare friends that Miss Emily got close to around the community of Jefferson.Miss Emily is depicted by the narrator as an unsympathetic member of Jefferson community. In the first instance, Miss Emily refused to pay tax obligation. Even despite intervention by the highest office in the town, the mayor and the sheriff, she never paid the taxes. Miss Emily’s father had led some money to the town long time ago.
It conflicts the point that the family was made up of paupers. However, her father has not been rich, and she only inherits an old house. The overall lack of charity in their family generations proved their lack of sympathy to the nation (Volpe, A reader's guide to William Faulkner: the short stories 113). Miss Emily was extremely unsympathetic to the druggist. The tone, in which the narrator presents Miss Emily, shows that she was not caring for others. She did not take the views of other people to consideration.
The bullish nature of her behavior to a member of the town meant that they did not coexist in harmony. Another incidence of the lack of sympathy is the death of Homer Barron. If she were sympathetic, she would have buried his body as soon as he died. The death of her father also shows signs of lack of sympathy to the dead. The relationship between Miss Emily and the servant represents unsympathetic nature (Faulkner).
She used him in inhuman way. The duties of a woman are performed by a man. The little children, who came to paint in her compound, have been treated without respect. She does not sympathize with the children.In the whole story of Miss Emily, she has been depicted as living a highly controversial life. Her relationship with the community beyond her home is hugely controversial.
The sadistic and egocentric nature of Miss Emily leads to being a non-sympathizer. Most of the events that happen in her life depict her as a sad figure. Even when the town’s high authorities came to her house, they were not welcomed. It portrays the unsympathetic nature of her character. The main character painted by the narrator in this story is the state of lacking sympathy.
The demand for change by the society is inevitable for Emily.
