During the period of the “Old South” in Jefferson, few

The Grierson house, in the eyes of Miss Emily, was a living representation of all the morals, lifestyles and memories of the Old South. Whether or not she is wrong, she is determined to cling to it as her lifeline to the past as she knows it. One of the more apparent signs of her questionable lucidity happens after the passing of her father. She held on to her deceased father’s decaying body for three days, not allowing the town minister and the doctor to dispose the body. The sad and painful truth is too hard for Miss Emily to accept, and her refusal to accept her father's death is just another example of her stubbornness. She rejects change out of cowardice and fear of losing her only reality, the lifestyle of the Old South. Closely connected, former mayor of Jefferson, Colonel Sartoris, represents the gentleness of the Old South in his relationship with Miss Emily during the pre-Civil War era.

families were in the upper and aristocratic part of society; and, in time, these families disappeared as people adjusted to the revolutionized lifestyle demanded in the “New South.” The character, Miss Emily Grierson, is depicted as the last living Grierson after the passing of her father. In effect, her passage would mark the end of the Grierson lineage and in a way mirrored the end of the “Old South.” She had been raised as Miss Emily, a person of high social standing, a sort of “southern belle” and an upstanding member of society. Her refusal to adapt to the New South is apparent through the relationship with her African American servant/cook, Tobe. Although the end of the Civil War in 1865 brought about the end of slavery, Miss Emily was one of the few, if not the only, citizen to have a servant. In addition to her servant Tobe, Miss Emily’s house was depicted as a “big, squarish frame house that had once been white, decorated with cupolas and spires and scrolled balconies in the heavily lightsome style of the seventies” (532) and had also been set on Jefferson’s “most select street.” (532). The vivid and striking description of the Grierson house is the identifying mark among the few houses belonging to the aristocratic society. Along with the grandeur that the Grierson house posed, came power and prominence with the Grierson name. Over time, the streets were

Some topics in this essay:
Miss Emily, Miss Emily’s, Civil War, Homer Barron, Colonel Sartoris, Emily Grierson, miss emily, Rose Emily”, South” Jefferson, Emily’s Rose, miss emily’s, South South, homer barron, colonel sartoris, “old south”, civil war, “a rose emily”, rose emily”, “a rose, “new south”, war era, faulkner’s “a rose, 536 miss emily, pre-civil war era, miss emily grierson,