In many works of literature, some characters isolate themselves from society due to certain events that happen in their life that make them isolate themselves. Isolation from the society can cause loneliness in ones life. In A Rose For Emily, William Faulkner suggests that isolation from society can cause people to do unspeakable acts because they are lonely. The main character, Emily Grierson lives her life under her father. Her father thinks that no man is good enough for his daughter. Therefore, he pushes anyone who comes near his daughter.
After living like this for so many years, Emily is left with othing after her father dies. We remembered all the young men her father had driven away, and we knew that with nothing left, she would have to cling to that which had robbed her, as people will (417) Due to that fact that her father has driven all the men who wanted to enter her life, she is left alone after her fathers death. Her attitude towards men is affected by her father. Therefore she isolates herself from others because she is used to living under her father which causes her to become lonely.
Miss Emily does not go out for some time after her fathers death until she meets man named Homer Barron. They are together for a long time and everyone in town thinks that they will be married soon. However, after this relationship lasts about one year and a half, Homer decides that he wants to leave Emily. Emily, having to go through the loss of her father, decides to kill Homer. A neighbor saw the Negro man admit him at the kitchen door at dusk one evening. And that was the last we saw of Homer Barron. And of Miss Emily for some time (419). Emily does not want to be left alone so she kills Homer and leaves him in her house.
This way she still has Homer by er side. The difference is that he is dead and she is alive. His dead body remains in her house for a while but no one knows of his disappearance. After Miss Emily kills Homer a smell develops in the area around her house. Crazy as it is, she lives through the smell. It does not bother her but it bothers her neighbors. Then we noticed that in the second pillow was the indentation of a head. One of us lifted something from it, and leaning forward, that faint and invisible dust dry and acrid in the nostrils, we saw a long strand of iron-gray hair (421).
After Emilys eath, there is a discovery of Homers dead body laying in the bed upstairs. It appears that Emily still lays in bed next to his rotting body after she kills him with poison. Apparently, the smell that was bothering the neighbors years before is from Homers rotting body. Here we can see that insanity took over her. She did not want to be left alone with nothing so the only way to get out of the loneliness is by killing her one love. The thought of marriage enters Emilys mind because she has been with Homer for a while. However, Homer decides to leave her.
We learned that Miss Emily had been to the jewelers and ordered a mans toilet set in silver, with letters H. B. on each piece. Two days later we learned that she had bought a complete outfit of mens clothing, including a nightshirt… (419). Even though he wants to leave her, Emily still has the thought that they will always be together. This is what leads to the murder of her love so that they could always be together. To Miss Emily, Homer is still alive because she buys this silver made especially for him. After his death she is never seen by anyone.
She stays inside her house and sleeps beside her love even though he is dead. At the end, Emily dies alone in her house. She dies in one of the downstairs rooms, in heavy walnut bed with a curtain, her gray head popped on a pillow yellow and moldy with age and lack of sunlight (420). Emily dies in tragedy for she lived her life alone and deserted from society. She died as a lonely women who became lonely only because she isolated herself from everything that surrounded her. Being isolated from society can cause one to go insane because of being alone. This can cause someone to do very abnormal things.
