Faulkner's story is a town's critical narration of the life of Emily Grierson, one of the town's oldest citizens, who for most of her life has been kept almost hidden from the rest of the world by her wealthy Southern father. After her father's death, Emily was emotionally unstable. She is so unstable that she would not let go of her father's dead body. Shortly after her father's death she meets Homer Barron and life for Emily begins to look up because. The townspeople think that she has found a replacement for her father. However, she does not actually marry him, but instead buys arsenic and it is implied that she killed him with it. Emily continues to live in a further isolation from the rest of the world. It was later discovered when Emily passed away at the age of 74 she did indee

The lack of contact that Emily has with the outside world also affects her aging appearance. After her father's death she looks like a little girl "with a vague resemblance to those angels in colored church windows--sort of tragic and serene." This description suggests that after her father's death she was certainly not living but actually decaying. As time progresses so does the dilapidating process "she grew fat and her hair was turning gray." Even though aging is inevitable, Emily grows old in an unusual fashion that was very similar to the decaying house. "She looks like a body long submerged in motionless water, and that of a pallid hue."

After Emily's father dies not only does she become further isolated from the outside world, but she also does not take care of any of her possessions and lets her house deteriorate. This is obvious because the house that she lives in "had once been white, decorated with cupolas and spires and scrolled balconies in the heavily lightsome style of the seventies". The current portrait of the house was much different "it smells of dust and disuse- a close, dank smell". The outside of the house is also very much run down. The once prominent house was in the neighborhood "lifting its stubborn and coquettish decay above the cotton wagons and the gasoline pumps-an eyesore among eyesores."

Emily's sheltered life resulted in the most shocking and unusual aspect of the story. Through the isolation and lack of companionship that Emily experienced as a r

Some common words found in the essay are:
Miss Emily, Homer Barron, Emily Grierson, Emily Emily, father's death, William Faulkner, Elks' Club-that, outside world, rest world, miss emily, , emily unable accept, homer barron, townspeople found, emily unable, unable accept, father's dominance, life emily, Rose Emily,
Approximate Word count = 1009
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)