In William Faulkner's story “A Rose for Emily” the protagonist, Emily Grierson, was perceived as bizarre by the townspeople. Throughout her life she has been unwilling to adapt to changes in the community, such as paying new taxes and admitting to her father's death after keeping him in her home for three days. Furthermore, she killed her love interest Homer and also kept his body in her house for several years. This illustrates his severe irrationality and fear of abandonment. As Emily grew up, she began to distance herself from society, and gradually the public reciprocated. Her overbearing father who controlled her life and pushed everyone away ultimately contributed to the acceleration of her mental instability and sense of control which led to Emily's gradual isolation from society. Emily's peculiar personality and aura, primarily her sense of control and the unwavering independence from which her father developed, has frightened other civilians. When some women asked the Baptist minister to come to Emily's house to discuss her marriage to Homer, readers can infer that she was very afraid: "She would never divulge what happened during that interview, but she refused to come back again " (Faulkner, 378). ). Furthermore, when she went to buy poison in a shop, the pharmacist asked her to clarify its purpose, but she refused: “Miss Emily stared at him, with her head tilted back to look at him eye for eye, until he looked away , went and got the arsenic and wrapped it up.” (Faulkner, 377). In both cases he was asserting his independence and sense of control. She learned this from her father when he tried to control her, as she was also trying to control society. Since Emily's sense of control was fr... middle of paper... people. When citizens complained about the unpleasant odor emanating from her house, they crept through the night to eradicate it, but did not speak to her in person. They chose to act only because it was affecting them, not because they were worried about her. It is evident that everyone saw that she was getting older: "When we saw Miss Emily, she had put on weight and her hair was turning grey" (Faulkner, 389), yet they did not attempt to help her by offering to help her. Her servant Tobe was the only person who saw Emily all those years when she was isolated at home. If Emily's father hadn't been so overprotective of her and allowed her to choose a man for herself, she wouldn't have felt so isolated and abandoned. from the company. Furthermore, she would not have been so mentally unstable and would not have developed such an overwhelming desire for control.