The dramatic impact of parents and their parenting choices in their children’s further development is undeniable. In “A Rose for Emily,” Emily’s father clearly exerts a tangibly domineering presence, which affects the lead character significantly. Despite being eventually freed from his influence and no longer being in the shadow of his physical presence Emily continues to worship him, which bends her life out of order and eventually leads to her mental and physical health deterioration.
The problem of complicated father-daughter relationships in “A Rose for Emily” have been discussed by multiple scholars. For instance, Medina notes that the relationship paradigm in question has a tremendously negative toll on Emily’s mental health: “. Stuck in ‘motionless water,’ she cannot progress” (181). Furthermore, An and Li confirm that the relationship under analysis does not in any way support Emily’s personal growth, instead, making her emotionally dependent on her father and his approval: “Emily can only live in the shadow of her father forever” (614). Finally, Bai et al. establish that the father’s role in Emily’s psychological development was highly adverse due to the rigidity of his ideas and the authoritative nature of his parental approach: “Emily regarded her sturdy father as her only guardian and emotional reliance” (614). Therefore, it can be concluded that, despite her façade of self-assurance and confidence, Emily remains traumatized and emotionally vulnerable.
Since Emily’s father had a clearly firm grip on her life and decisions, therefore, causing her to deify him, her later life was affected by his death incredibly strongly, causing her mental and physical health to spiral dramatically. Due to his long-lasting authoritative presence in Emily’s life, she cannot imagine living without it. As a result, being fully deprived of her independence despite the seeming abundance of personal freedom, she gradually descends into madness.
Works Cited
An, ShuanJun, and SiYuan Li. “Analysis of A Rose for Emily from Feminist Perspective.” 2021 International Conference on Education, Language and Art (ICELA 2021), vol. 637, pp. 613-617.
Bai, Xiaojun, Xiaotong Zhang, and Yihui Li. “An Analysis of Emily’s Characters in A Rose for Emily from the Perspective of Narration.” Journal of Language Teaching and Research, vol. 11, no. 4, 2020, pp. 611-615.
Medina, Isabela. “Defending the Toxic Woman: William Faulkner’s ‘A Rose for Emily’ and Toxic Discourse.” SIGMA TAU DELTA, vol. 178, pp. 178-183.