In the story “A Rose for Emily,” by William Faulkner, the narrator introduces the reader to Emily Grierson, a sheltered Southern woman who struggled immensely with her life while alive. sanity and the changing world around her. Emily's father, a very prestigious man, is the cause of Emily's senseless behavior. It kept her isolated from the rest of the town "We remembered all the young men her father had chased away..." (Page 3.) If Emily had been allowed to go out and socialize with people her own age, she would have turned out differently. Emily Grierson, the only remaining member of the upper-class Grierson family, refuses to leave the past behind even as the next generation begins to take over. Miss Emily is so taken with how things used to be in the old South that she refuses to pay her taxes forcing the board of aldermen to visit her. Upon entering her home the men realize that her house is still heavily furnished with old leather furniture. Another indication that Emily is holding on to the past by refusing to throw away the furniture even if it is worn out and unusable. “Page 1: They could see that the skin was cracked; and as they sat down, a light dust slowly rose around their thighs…” Clinging to these possessions reminds Emily of how things were before her father died. The narrator also gives the reader the first clue that perhaps Miss Emily is not mentally stable” Page 2: See Colonel Sartoris. I have no taxes in Jefferson." Emily responded to the men about the unpaid taxes even though Colonel Sartoris had been dead for over ten years. But why did Colonel Sartoris make up the false statement that Emily's father had loaned the money to the city? “ Page 1: Colonel...... in the center of the card......decorated for a bride. Everything Emily had bought that day in the city (the toilet set, the men's clothes) was found in that room along with the body of an unknown man and a strand of gray hair on the second pillow next to the body Was Miss Emily to blame for Homer's death, or was it the town's fault for never interfering and looking. to get her professional help? Everyone knew that madness was rife in her family, but instead of helping her the town pitied Miss Emily and her situation got out of hand. As a reader of this story, I understand that it took Homer's life , she never had anyone to love and when she found Homer she thought he would be the man she would spend the rest of her life with. Works Cited Faulkner, William. “A rose for Emily.” Literature: reading fiction, poetry and theatre. Ed. Robert Di Yanni. 6th ed. New York: McGraw Hill, 2008. Print.