In "A Rose for Emily," what does this quote mean, and what is its significance? "When her father died, it got about that the house was all that...

The Grierson family had once been a prominent one in
Jefferson, and their house had been one of the finest in the town. But by the time of
Emily's father's death, there was no family money left--only the old, crumbling house.
Since the "Grierson's had always held themselves a little too high for what they really
were," the townspeople had never really felt any pity for them. But now that the town
knew that Emily was penniless, and that she was no longer bound by the iron hand of her
father, the people of Jefferson felt that they could now feel sorry for her. Now that
she had become "humanized," Emily was an equal to the rest of the townspeople: She, too,
was now poor, and she would have to live the rest of her life with the financial
uncertainties that other "paupers" endure.