The short story, “A Rose for Emily,” by William Faulkner, is riddled with complications and conflicts. One of the more obvious conflicts is the one is about the taxes in Jefferson.

            In the story, Miss Emily is convinced that her father had loaned money to the town, and the town’s way of repaying that money was to not tax her family. When the new generation became the mayors and aldermen, “this arrangement created some little dissatisfaction.” They mailed her tax notices and letters from the sheriff and the mayor asked her to call or come by to discuss the matter. She replied that she no longer went out; so they went to her. When they visited, she stated, “I have no taxes in Jefferson. Colonel Sartoris explained it to me. Perhaps one of you can gain access to the city records and satisfy yourselves.” They stated that they had, and that they were the city authorities. Miss Emily confessed that she had received a paper from the sheriff and that she has no taxes in Jefferson. The councilmen contested that there was not anything on the books to show that she didn’t need to pay taxes. She promptly told them to see Colonel Sartoris, and that she did not have taxes in Jefferson. The complication was that Colonel Sartoris was dead.

            The climax is when, after the funeral, they open the upstairs room that hasn’t been opened in a long time and find the body of Miss Emily’s lover, Homer Barron, dead and rotting in the bed with Miss Emily’s gray hair beside him. The story resolves with Miss Emily’s death and burial.