A Rose For Emily Grierson Character Analysis

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Emily Grierson from the short story “A Rose for Emily” was a woman who could easily be put into many categories of psychological disorders. Her potent father is one of the many reasons why she is diagnosed with these mental disorders. He had a great influence on her and her lifestyle. After Mr. Grierson’s death, Emily went through many dramatic transformations since he played a major role in her life. The occurrence of his death led to her suffering of major depression and attachment disorder. Major depression is defined as a mood disorder that causes feelings of sadness and sometimes loss of interest that is often persistent. This disorder affects how a person feels, thinks, and behaves. It can also lead to a variety of emotional and physical …show more content…
After her father’s death she showed sad emotions because she had a bond with him she didn’t want to give up. The town’s people wanted to bury him after they found out she was keeping him in her house after he had died and that made her have an emotional breakdown. “…She broke down, and they buried him quickly.” (Faulkner 3). Shortly thereafter, she met Homer and created a bond with him just as she had with her father. The people believed she just wanted attention because they didn’t think a Grierson would create a relationship with people similar to Homer. So she showed a sign of acting indiscriminately affectionate towards a stranger “At first we were glad that Miss Emily would have an interest, because the ladies all said, “Of course a Grierson would not think seriously of a Northerner, a day labourer.” But there were still others, older people, who said that even grief could not cause a real lady to forget noblesse oblige -without calling it no blesse oblige.” (Faulkner 3). She also showed a sign of destruction to others by harming and killing Homer, which is another symptom of attachment disorder. She wanted to keep Homer with her forever and that’s exactly what she tried to do. “The man himself lay in the bed. For a long while we just stood there, looking down at the profound and fleshless grin.” (Faulkner 5). After observing Emily Grierson’s behavior, she can easily be diagnosed with attachment disorder.
In conclusion Miss Emily proves to have various mental disorders from her physical actions and her mental state that is shown throughout the story. Emily Grierson can overall be diagnosed with two noticeable disorders that she has, which are, major depression and attachment disorder. Her father contributed to her suffering of these psychological disorders and she is now