Talk For Me

"It is the Past pitted against the Present—the Past with its social decorum, the Present with everything set down in the books" (West 68). Emily has skewed off the time line existence and does not wish to return or compromise. The life instilled by her father has become the belief system in which has stuck her in time. Confusion is the essential ingredient to her cosmology of life along with the isolation without her father are primary reasons for the confusion that ‘poor Emily’ suffered from. "None of the young men were quite good enough for Miss Emily and such" (Faulkner 147). This ‘poor Emily’ was the result of family misconceptions of a false socioeconomic status that she was taught to exist no matter what time frame was surrounding her.

"They rose when she entered" (Faulkner 146). Emily was used to being in command in all situations in life. An overly protective father that felt no man was good enough for the family or his daughter placed this idea into her head. "The Griersons held themselves a little too high for what they really were" (Faulkner 147). The people she loved most corrupted this isolated girl, her family the central care unit compared throughout the community of the Southern traditional town. When Emily’s father died, her world was shattered and confusion set into her mind. "Miss Emily met them at the door, dressed as usual and with no trace of grief on her face" (Faulkner 147). Her life was controlled by the man she called father, and when he died, the controlling provider was no more eventually bringing Emily to a crossroad in her life. The paths available were seclusion or socialization.