The rose represents young love as in young lovers get each other roses to show their affection to one another. Emily never got the chance to accept a rose from anyone because of her father, but once she met Homer she finally accepted the “rose” and fell deeply in love with him.
Emily’s hair is a symbolic reference of her sexuality. Seattle Pi insists that “Emily’s hair is symbolic of her sexuality throughout the story. After her father dies she cuts her hair appearing like a young girl.” Her hair represents her sexuality due to the fact that she cut her hair after her father died in order to make herself appear as if she was young again. Although she was in her thirties when she decided to cut her hair she wanted to maintain a look as if she was still in her youth.
Another symbol used in A Rose for Emily is her sexual immaturity. Her young appearance is a symbol of her sexual immaturity which was frozen in time since her father took away all her chances to experience life with another man. Her father took away all opportunities to go out and find the right one for her to marry. Emily has one last chance to be intimate with someone, but as soon as Homer was murdered her hair turned grey and she became an ugly woman. She wasn’t getting any younger and unfortunately has no other chance to marry someone