In "A Rose for Emily," what was Emily's motive for holding on to Homer's body?

In William Faulkner’s story, “A Rose for Emily,” Miss
Emily Grierson is painted as a very deprived woman. Growing up, she wasn’t allowed to
have suitors; her father was extremely strict and protective. So, though she was
beautiful, she was never courted, and she spent her teenaged and young adult life taking
care of her father’s house. After her father died, Miss Emily met Homer Barron, a Yankee
in town on business. Though Faulkner implies that most of the townspeople believed Homer
was a homosexual, Miss Emily began to conduct a courtship with him. To the town’s
surprise, the relationship seemed to be going smoothly. Miss Emily even buys a wedding
present, which is a tradition among soon-to-be-couples. One day Homer leaves town, and
everyone assumes it’s to prepare for marrying Miss Emily. Three days later, he’s seen
returning to Emily’s house by the back door…and he’s never seen
leaving.

The townspeople of Jefferson remember “all the
young men her father had driven away, and … knew that with nothing left, [Emily] would
have to cling to that which had robbed her, as people will.” And when you look at the
story, she has lost quite a bit: she was deprived of her youth by her father, and then
was deprived of her father, whose body she didn’t want to give up. The house her father
left to her is in disrepair, but she continues to live there. And, all her suitors gave
up on her, so as a middle-aged woman, Miss Emily wants to cling to Homer; he’s her last
hope for the perfect life she believed she deserved, her last hope for something that
would be all hers and never leave.

We as readers can’t know
exactly what prompted Miss Emily to kill Homer, though again, one interpretation is that
readers may be led to think Homer is gay, and we know from the story that Miss Emily
herself is a demanding and snobby woman. Perhaps Homer tried to break off their
engagement, or Miss Emily worried he would. The best clue we have is the poison Miss
Emily buys—arsenic, which the druggist tells her is for killing rats. When we call
people rats, it’s because they’ve double-crossed us, so most likely, Faulkner is
implying that Miss Emily knew Homer could never truly be hers and that he would betray
her love for him by not loving her back fully. Or again, perhaps he came back to
Jefferson to try to end the engagement, which is why he tried to avoid being seen by
coming in the back door rather than the front door. Either way, Miss Emily wants to be
absolutely sure Homer Barron will never leave her, so she poisons him and enjoys many
long years sleeping beside his placid corpse.