Describe Emily's father, Edward Dickinson.

Emily's father Edward was a strict, rigid and ethical New England lawyer. He took fatherhood seriously and demanded obedience from his children. Growing up, Emily was a little afraid of him. For example, she feared to tell him she didn't know how to tell time on a clock. Later, she found small ways to rebel against him and was sometimes frustrated by his demands. She called him "the straightest engine" that "never played." 

Edward Dickinson took seriously his responsibilities as an important citizen in the town of Amherst. He was treasurer of Amherst College for 27 years, served in the state legislature and even served a term in the US Congress. 

Emily never married and as time passed she and her father grew to respect each other. She was upset when he died, and wrote of him that he was "the oldest and oddest sort of foreigner." By that she did not literally mean he was foreign, but that he differed from the average New Englander.