One of the themes suggested in William Faulkner’s short story a rose for Emily is that an extremely overbearing parent can lead to the mental and emotional breakdown in the child. There are a few scenes that demonstrate this however the two key ones are when the women show up at Emily’s home to offer condolences following her fathers death and following her own death when the townsfolk look around at her home. …showed first 75 words of 383 total…

…showed last 75 words of 383 total…honeymoon that followed. Emily seemed to go insane with her desire to spite her father by doing things that were extremely unethical. The last line suggests that even through all these years Emily had continued to sleep with the body of Homer. Reading closely one can make the case that Faulkner hints that even at Emily’s funeral; Mr. Grierson is the dominant figure. His picture lays above Emily’s “bier” looking down on her.