Any Thing but Tradition

Emily Grierson was anything but traditional. The traditional woman would have been one who kept a neat home, had perfect manners, and passed traditions down through generations. Emily did not run her home as a traditional woman in the south would have. She had her Negro servant who did all of the cooking and also shopping for Emily. The house was always described in a state of mess throughout the story as well. There was also the smell that came from the house that the town’s people complained about continuously. If Emily was a traditional woman she would have wanted to present herself in a manner that was accepted and not offensive, such as the smell. The way in which Emily treated other people directly is not in the typical thinking of traditional women. She seems to be a woman who is content to by alone, and not wanting to accept any handouts from others. When she needed help she was not willing to even reach out to her own family for assistance. Emily also was not able to pass down any of her beliefs or traditions to any of her own. Even though there was much hope in the relationship between Emily and Homer Barron. As the town’s people stated, “…we were sure that they were to be married” (213). Throughout the information that we received from the short story of “A Rose for Emily” there were many things that would not be considered as traditional for women of the time.