Alderman, noun: a member of a municipal legislative body, especially of a municipal council.

Source: http://www.dictionary.com/browse/alderman

We encountered this word multiple times while reading “A Rose for Emily.” The first time it appears is in the fourth paragraph of the first section, which details how the members of the new town government wanted Miss Emily to pay taxes in the town. Here’s an excerpt of the paragraph:

“When the next generation, with its more modern ideas, became mayors and aldermen, this arrangement created some little dissatisfaction. On the first of the year they mailed her a tax notice. February came, and there was no reply. They wrote her a formal letter, asking her to call at the sheriff’s office at her convenience. A week later the mayor wrote her himself, offering to call or to send his car for her, and received in reply a note on paper of an archaic shape, in a thin, flowing calligraphy in faded ink, to the effect that she no longer went out at all. The tax notice was also enclosed, without comment.”

Dispensation – “an exemption from a law or from an impediment, vow, or oath may be granted a dispensation from the rule”

While re-reading “A Rose for Emily” I came across the same passage we looked at in class and wanted to look up what “Dispensation” actually meant. After discovering the meaning, it became even more clear to me how Colonel Sartoris wanted to make sure that Emily would not have to worry about paying the taxes. As we discussed it was due to the fact that Emily really had no real income, the only thing that was worth something was her family title.

Source: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dispensation