In William Faulkner's short story "A Rose For Emily" Miss Emily's house butler and the townspeople share similar qualities in the light of the fact that both of them care for Emily in certain different areas.
The reader is forced to guess at Tobe's character because Tobe plays a major role but he has no speaking parts, does not interact with the townspeople goes out to get what he needs and goes back to take care of Miss Emily. he rarely leaves Miss Emily alone in the house by herself.
The narrator never reveals age or tells us whether he is male or female. During the story always refers himself/herself with the townspeople by saying "we". The narrator draws the reader in and giving the reader a sense of being apart of the story by using "we" referring to him, the townspeople, and the reader. The narrators views begin to express the towns peoples views when Miss Emily begins to display a love interest in Homer Barron. The narrator changes his opinion about Miss Emily throughout the story. During the course of the story it seems that the narrator seems to grow in age along with Miss Emily, near the beginning of the story the narrator is characterized young and later, much older, when the narrator presents the rose to Miss Emily. During the beginning of the story, when Miss Emily was much younger, the narrator focuses alot on her stubbornness and arrogance. Later in the story, the narrator relates to Miss Emily as if he/she were the same age and talks a lot about what she has done in her lifetime.
It is difficult to say who Miss Emily would be in better hands with between Tobe and the townspeople. Of the two, both Tobe and the townspeople offer advantages and disadvantages for Miss Emily's well being. On one end, Tobe cares for Miss Emily tending to her every need for example, going to the market for her when she needs supplies and groceries. At the other end of the spectrum, the townspeople, offers accountability. If Miss Emily did not have Tobe to take care of her and was forced to interact with the townspeople it would be plausible to say that she would have not killed Homer and would have kept more of her sanity longer. It is possible that she killed Homer to cope with her exile from the town and her self-excommunication from other human beings. If Miss Emily kept every day interactions with the townspeople it is possible that she could have found a husband, rather than kill someone to "play" the part as her "undead groom".