An Essay on a Rose for Emily

The death of Miss Emily brought sadness, shock and instantly changed what the people in her town thought about her.   Born into wealth and prestige, Emily grew up in the shadow of her domineering father.   Her father was a controlling man.   He limited Emily the joys of her youth, most of all, being admired and pursued by young men.   Therefore, she never got married.   When her father died when Emily was in her 30s, the flower of her   youth was already fading, her zest for life zapped by a father who selfishly wanted a daughter and caregiver in one   by his   side to ensure he would be cared for in his twilight years.
    Emily and her father held a high position in a time and place where these things mattered. They were openly admired, privately envied, maybe even secretly despised. When her father died, Emily’s circumstances became different she was no longer wealthy, but respected nonetheless.   So respected that no one can do anything when she refused to pay her taxes or to go out and socialize more except on her sporadic jaunts.
        A small town has its’ secrets and mysteries. Miss Emily was the biggest of them all.   People constantly wondered quietly about her eccentric ways and how she survived in her diminished circumstances.   They talked more when they smelled something foul in her house. However, the Old Guard of the town sprinkled lime on her lawn to diminish the foul odor and the endless speculations of the townspeople.  
    The death of Emily’s father and her denial that her father is already dead shows how Emily realizes that the world she once knew was unraveling.   She refused to have her father buried shows her uncertainty in being ‘all alone’ in the world and at the same time, maybe even a hint of revenge for all the years her father controlled her and her destiny.  
        Emily’s death was a big eye opener to the townspeople. Upon realizing that Emily was dead, her house was searched and to their shock, found a corpse in a condition...