Colonel Sartoris believed that "no negro woman should appear on the streets without an apron" (367). In other words, women shouldn't be handling any business other than cooking duties. So when the protagonist encountered taxes due to her father's death, Colonel Sartoris handled her finances by paying for them. According to the text, Emily would not willingly accept charity, so Colonel Sartoris devised a plan. In this plan her father "loaned the money to the town and preferred this way of repaying" (367). To simplify, this plan was accepted by Emily without any questions. As stated by the text, it was accepted because only a woman would believe it. Furthermore, after Colonel Sartoris left, Emily had a male servant, Tobe. Tobe handled all of her household duties and was often seen "going in and out with a market basket" (369). Consequently, Emily's issues were handled once again, specifically by a male in her life.
Emily was considered psychologically ill and crazy. For example, Emily had a great aunt, Old lady Wyatt, who the town believed to be completely insane. To clarify, since Emily's great aunt was crazy, the town believed that all of the Griersons were crazy. Moreover, after Emily's father's death, she greeted the women offering condolences, "dressed as usual and with no trace of grief on her face" (370). In addition to that, she denied that her father had even died for three days. The town even tried to get the doctors and the local minister to talk her into believing that her father had in fact died. Another instance of insanity includes when Emily took a trip to the local pharmacy, requesting poison. The pharmacist questions her about the selection, but to no avail did he get an answer to his question. Without any further questions, he delivered arsenic poison to her house. The town believed Emily possessed some sort of madness, so they didn't openly question any of her actions.
