Can you say crazy?!?!
I chose this piece today because it made me think about how sometimes we don't want to let go of things. We allow them to mull over in our mind. We may find ourselves bringing them up in conversations just so we can relive them with someone else again. What if someone took this to the extreme?
Honestly, Miss Emily Grierson is not that crazy of a person to think of. Imagine an older person who believes they are entitled. Someone who doesn't accept the reality has moved past their time. They won't adapt and refuse to do so even if it proves detrimental to their person. It's not just older people who do this either. In communication we describe these people as the laggards, those who won't accept what's new or are the very last to do so.
Overall, Miss Emily is deceptive. She's smart but more in a manipulative sort of way. She understands her place in the world and will use it to get whatever she wants. It's interesting that this piece never mentions her mother. If she had a more loving figure rather than her Civil War supporting father, would she have been able to understand rejection and cope in other manners? Instead, she works a bit in a military-esque fashion: firm, unshakeable, and ambitious to a fault.
In sympathy, it would be difficult to be an orphan at age 30 with no love interest and no job. Think about it, in psychology we learn that the more "dimensions" one has to their person, the less likely they are to become depressed because they have an "insulation" against depression. No, this doesn't justify her behavior on any level but it still is just an interesting component.
What about the servant? How in the world did he not speak up? I mean, we know he didn't speak at all due to the harsh and rough nature of his voice at the end of the selection but what was she doing that kept him in such fear to stay quiet and continue to serve? Yes, it was a completely different time and age, but how could you know that you were serving in the same house as a woman who was known for her inability to deal with death?! It is an utter shame that someone would be unable to speak up. Think about it: no one in town would've listened to him and he probably would have been jailed or killed for speaking out against Miss Emily.
Speaking of her inability to deal with death, maybe Emily was still suffering from the death of her mother? Maybe he father never taught her how to deal with death so when she came across it her compensation was to not deal with it. I mean, RED FLAG. She wouldn't give up her father's body, and mysteriously Homer Barron disappears? C'mon people, enough with the niceties, it's a crime to not pay your taxes and murder someone. Just saying, enough is enough.
Bailey,
ReplyDeleteWhen I saw the title of this post, I knew that I wanted to read it. I agree with the red flags, and I do find it hard to believe that no one spoke out against anything that she did because some of it was absurd. She did know how to get what she wants. That is for sure. She was a woman in control, well at least after her father died, and in control over everything except her ability to let go and move on.