Student Question
Why do town people think Emily should "kill herself" in "A Rose for Emily"?
Quick answer:
In “A Rose for Emily,” people of the town think it would be the best thing for Emily to "kill herself" because they pity her. They feel sorry for her as a poor spinster left with nothing but a decrepit house by an overbearing father who prevented her from marrying. The townspeople also realize that constraints from her snobby aristocratic family continue to prevent her from finding romantic happiness. Therefore, her only escape is suicide.
The title character of “A Rose for Emily” purchases arsenic from the pharmacist without explaining how she plans to use it. People in her town believe that she will use the arsenic to commit suicide and say “it would be the best thing.” The reason for this shocking declaration by the townspeople is that they pity Emily for several reasons.
First, after her father passes away, Emily is left as a poor old spinster with formerly grand ancestral property but no money.
When her father died, it got about that the house was all that was left to her; and in a way, people were glad. At last they could pity Miss Emily. Being left alone, and a pauper, she had become humanized.
Second, as the daughter of an overprotective and overbearing father, Emily is prevented from marrying. Her family—the Griersons—is old Southern gentry; due to class snobbery...
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and patriarchal authority, Emily never has the freedom to date or choose a suitor. The townspeople
feel really sorry for her. People in our town … believed that the Griersons held themselves a little too high for what they really were. None of the young men were quite good enough for Miss Emily and such. We had long thought of them as a tableau, Miss Emily a slender figure in white in the background, her father a spraddled silhouette in the foreground, his back to her and clutching a horsewhip, the two of them framed by the back-flung front door.
Therefore, Emily ends up thirty years old and alone. After her father’s death, the townspeople remember
all the young men her father had driven away, and we knew that with nothing left, she would have to cling to that which had robbed her, as people will.
That to which Emily clings, unfortunately, is her family—the Grierson name, former high social status, and relatives. In fact, after her father’s death, two female cousins move in with her and perpetuate the family’s disapproval of and snobbery toward suitors. She has one suitor after her father’s death, but sadly this “sweetheart—the one we believed would marry her—had deserted her.”
Emily’s run of bad luck with suitors seems to end with Homer Barron, a day laborer below her class. She parades around town with him, seemingly in a display of defiance of her father and ancestors. Nonetheless, the townspeople think nothing will come of the relationship because Barron would be driven away by the two Grierson cousins. Emily seems to have no chance at romantic love and happiness because of her family. Therefore, the only way she can escape is through suicide.
The townspeople eagerly watch the development of Emily and Homer’s unlikely courtship.
At first nothing happened. Then we were sure that they were to be married. We learned that Miss Emily had been to the jeweler's and ordered a man's toilet set in silver, with the letters H. B. on each piece. Two days later we learned that she had bought a complete outfit of men's clothing, including a nightshirt, and we said, "They are married." We were really glad. We were glad because the two female cousins were even more Grierson than Miss Emily had ever been.
So Emily does not need to commit suicide in order to escape her family. It would not be “the best thing” for her to kill herself; she is able to form a lasting bond with Homer Barron despite her spinsterhood, poverty, and domineering family's beliefs.
References
How does the town influence Emily in "A Rose for Emily"?
This question assumes that the town did, in fact, influence Emily to kill herself, and I don't think that's the case.
The town allowed her to isolate herself, which led to some unhealthy habits. This went on for years. However, the descriptions of her aging and death indicate that she died of old age, and of a generic sickness. (All it says is this: "We did not even know she was sick.")
Now, the town thought she would kill herself, but that was earlier, of a broken heart, and I'd say they influence her there in that they isolate her, then don't stop her from buying the poison.