Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily" illustrates the evolution of a small post-Civil War community, as a new generation of residents replaces the pre-Civil War generation. ideals with more modern ideas. At the center of town is Emily Grierson, the only remnant of the upper-class Grierson family, a "gentle Southern woman incapable of understanding how much the world has changed around her." (Kazin, 2). This essay will focus on Emily Grierson and her attempts to control change after her father's death. Emily's need to control change is first highlighted through her relationship with her father. Their bond, based on a high-class aristocratic ideal system, lasted until his father's death. A mental picture of Mr. Grierson's relationship with Emily is painted by the narrator, who "speaks for his community" (Rodman, 3), as "Miss Emily...in the background, her father...in the foreground, with his back to him and holding a riding crop, both framed by the front door folded backwards. Mr. Grierson's position between Emily and the area outside the house prevents anyone from entering or leaving the house. Whip in hand, Emily's father rejects any potential husband because, as Dennis W. Allen puts it, "no suitor is 'good enough for Mrs. Emily'" (689). Allen goes on to say that “Mr. Grierson stands between his daughter and the outside world…. Emily's romantic relationships are limited to an incestuous fixation on her father. (689). This incestuous relationship, although not implicitly stated, is highly probable since the only male she loves is her father. This special bond is revealed after the death of Emily's father. According to the speaker, "When her father died, the house was nothing but... middle of paper... 'A Rose for Emily'." Modern Fiction Studies 30 (Winter 1984): 685-96. Birk, John F. "Tryst Beyond Time: Faulkner's 'Emily' and Keats." » Studies in Short Fiction 28.2 (Spring 1991): 203-13. Emily.'" Explanator 47.2 (Winter 1989): 26-30. Faulkner, William. "A Rose for Emily." Literature for Composition. 4th ed. Sylvan Barnet, et al. New York: HarperCollins, 1996. Kazin, Alfred Bright Book of Life, 1973. Kobler, J.F. "Faulkner's 'A Rose for Emily. '"Explanator 32 (1974): 65. Muller, Gil." Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily." .'" Faulkner Journal 8.2 (Spring 1993): 3-12. Schwab, Milinda. "A Watch for Emily." Studies in Short Fiction 28.2 (Spring 1991): 215-17.