The South went through major political and cultural changes after the Civil War as it became less agrarian and more industrialized. The previously insatiable need for slave labor to rule the South was eventually alleviated by the use of machinery that made it more profitable to farm without an enslaved human workforce (Engle). Thus the entire lifestyle of both white and black Southerners changed. However, changing cultural norms appeared to be a slow progression. Faulkner symbolizes the decline of old ways in "A Rose for Emily" through Emily Grierson's aging process and the relationship between Emily and her servant, Tobe, symbolizing the depth of cultural norms and the slowness of their change. The main character in “A Rose for Emily” is a single woman living in her father's house just after the Civil War. The Griersons considered themselves of a higher social class; a belief rejected by citizens who “believed that the Griersons thought themselves a little too high for what they really were” (518). Her father didn't believe there were any suitors ...