Essay About Voice Of The Community And Generation-Dear

When Curiosity and High Class Meet: A Psychological Critical Analysis of A Rose for Emily
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English 113, D3
29 November 2007
When Curiosity and High Class Meet: A Psychological Critical Analysis of “A Rose for Emily”
“A Rose for Emily” is an interesting tale about a small town spinster who leads a somewhat
secret life. The narrator in the story is not a single person but the voice of the community itself. The
whole story is told in parts of her life about strange things that happened and how the community
handled it.
The community in “A Rose for Emily” gives us the impression that they are watching Emily
Griersons whole life from across the street. While reading the work we are made to feel like someone
inquiring about Emily Grierson, asking the town about her life, and somehow going back in time. The
community tells of times of the old south during the Civil War, and the gentile manner of the people
who lived there. The voice tells us of the old southern town of Jefferson. Time moves on but Emily
Grierson seems to stay in the past along with her property. “When the town got free postal delivery,”
we are told, “Miss Emily alone refused to let them fasten the metal numbers above her door and attach a
mailbox to it. She would not listen” (599). In the beginning of the story we learn through the narrative
voice of the community that the city officials had all retired and new ones had come in. Someone found
that Emily had not paid taxes in years because a Colonel Sartoris had remitted her taxes when her father
died to relieve some financial strain. The mayor did not like this so he sent people out to inform her that
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she had not paid her taxes. The voice of the community reports a dialog in which, after much protesting
with her she finally says, “See Colonel Sartoris”, then we are told in confidence, “ (Colonel Sartoris had
been dead almost ten years)” (596). These men were only interested in collecting her taxes and did not
care about an old agreement, “…for the new generation” as Ray B. West Jr. notes, “ the word of Colonel
Sartoris meant nothing.” (266).After her death, the community describes her as, “…[passing] from
generation to generation-dear, inescapable, impervious, tranquil, and perverse” (600).
The people of the antebellum town of Jefferson were incredibly critical and particular about the
matters of the town’s existence. When it comes to Emily Grierson’s personal life, everyone seems to
have something to say. Everything from the paint on the house to the way it smelled was scrutinized.
The voice of the community describes the house as, “…[a] big squarish frame house that had once been
white…lifting its stubborn and coquettish decay above cotton wagons and the gasoline pumps an
eyesore among eyesores” (595). This decaying of her house shows her decaying mental state along with
the decaying of herself as she grows older. As Kvita Newvell explains, “Not only does this symbolize
the decay of Emily physically but it symbolizes the decay of Emily; mentally” (par 23).When an odor
began to permeate at Emily’s house the town women watched closely and made a cruel comment toward
one of Emily’s servants, “Just as if a man…could keep a kitchen properly” (596). One woman further
inquires about the issue by going to a judge and complaining about Emily Grierson. When the judge
asks her, “But what will you have me to about it, madam?” the woman responds,“Why send her word to
stop it…Isn’t there a law?” (596). The town officials met, “…four men crossed Miss Emily’s lawn and
slunk about the house like burglars…They broke open the cellar door and sprinkled lime thereвЂ¦Ð²Ð‚Ñœ
(596).Not only had the community taken the matter of her house into their own hands, but the town
meddled in her personal life as well. The community was glad when they first saw her courting a man by
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the name of Homer Barron after her fathers death. But it soon turned sour when the town disapproved of
his behavior with other men. According to Michael L. Burduck, “The females in town…are so
concerned with Emily’s eccentricities that they force their men to actвЂ¦Ð²Ð‚Ñœ (260). Some of the women
went to the Baptist minister and persuaded him to talk to Emily and ask her not court Homer Barron, he
complied