A Rose for Emily is a sad story about a woman's destiny to be alone. It is set in the 1930s, and told in a third person point of view as you never hear Emily speaking of herself or talking to herself in the mirror and such. The tones change throughout the story from sympathy to suspicion. There are several symbols within the story as well, the rose in the title, the house, and the smell that is mentioned. The story was written in 1931 and the setting is in the same time. It also appears that the story takes place in the south based on the racist language. In the 1930s a woman's role was to be a loving, caring wife and a devoted mother. They stayed home, took care of the children and managed all the house work. Women were expected to act with the utmost grace and dignity, and unless married a woman was to never be alone with a man, it was unacceptable. Society is much different now than it was then. Now a woman cannot only be alone with a man and it be acceptable but she can live with a man unmarried and it be acceptable. Then, it was unheard of for a man and woman to live together without being wed first. .
The characters in the story are Emily, Emily's father, Homer, and the townspeople. Emily is the main character and is explained as wealthy, but not as wealthy as she once was. She wants to be married, however she does see herself as over the rest of the town and she shows that by refusing to pay her taxes by the way she "Vanquished them" (pg. 53 line 33) when the Aldermen came to speak with her about collecting the taxes. Later she asks the druggist for some arsenic, and he explains that by law she has to say for what she intends to use it. She ignores him and does not explain. By these actions she sees herself as over everyone else. She lives in her own perception of reality. Emily's father played a big role in Emily's life. Every time a man would show interest in Emily he would run them off.