Isolation in a Rose for Emily :: A Rose For Emily, William Faulkner

Isolation dominated the seventy four-year life of Emily Grierson in 'A Rose for Emily' by William Faulkner. Never in this story did she live in harmony with anyone one short time. Even when she died of age at seventy four, people in Jefferson town rushed into her house not because they wanted to say goodbye forever to her but because they wanted to discover her mystic house. Many people agreed that it was the aristocratic status that made Emily?s life isolated. And if Emily weren?t born in the aristocratic Grierson, her life couldn't be alienated far away from the others around her. Having been the only daughter of a noble family, Emily was overprotected by her father who 'had driven away' all the young men wanting to be close to her. As a result of that, when she got to be thirty, she was still alone. It was Mr. Grierson who alienated his daughter from the normal life of a young woman. If she weren't born in the Grierson, if she didn?t have an upper-class father, she could get many relationships with many young men in order to find herself an ideal lover. Then she might have a happy marriage life with nice husband and children In addition, as a lady descended from aristocracy, Emily was educated in how to behave as a noble, which became her huge barrier to people around her. Throughout the story, Emily always 'carried her head high enough', even when she went out with Homer Barron, bought rat poison, or talked to the Board of Alderman. A head carried high showed that Emily was absolutely aware of her status, which kept her from having a person to confide with. Even she never talked to the Negro servant who lived under the same roof with her for years. That was the reason why people only saw him go in and out of the house silently from the beginning to the end of the story. If Emily carried her head a little bit lower and spent time looking at people around her, she could find a reliable listener to help her escape from the isolation. According to people in Jefferson town, the Grierson was really a monument, although this monument was fallen, they considered Emily, the last Grierson, an example to the young people. As a result of that, townspeople, especially 'some of the ladies began to say that it was disgrace to the town and a bad example to the young people?