This is an interesting question because although Miss
Emily might be considered a "strong" person in lots of ways in the story, it is clear
that her "strength" is also linked to a crucial weakness, which is her tendency to
retreat from a reality that we are not comfortable with into a former world or a fantasy
world where we get everything our own way. Consider in the first section how she greets
the Alderman and then deals with them, insisting that she will not pay
taxes:
She
did not ask them to sit. She just stood in the door and listened quietly until the
spokesman came to a stumbling halt. Then they could hear the invisible watch ticking at
the end of the gold chain.Her voice was dry and cold. "I
have no taxes in Jefferson. Colonel Sartoris explained it to me. Perhaps one of you can
gain access to the city records and satisfy
yourselves."
She is clearly a
"strong" character in the way that she is able to face down the authority represented in
the alderman - she will not suffer fools gladly. It is clear however that this
"strength" as illustrated here is likewise a weakness, for it is indicative of the way
that Miss Emily has retreated into her own world and will not let reality enter. Note
the reference in the first paragraph of the quote above to the "invisible watch,"
reinforcing the idea that Miss Emily is linked with the inexorable passage of time. It
is as if she keeps her own time regardless of the rest of the world, and thus can talk
as if Colonel Sartoris is still in power, whilst the text tells us that he died ten
years ago.
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