主語是Alive,Miss Emily had been a tradition,a duty,and a care；a sort of hereditary obligation upon the town,
主語動詞是 had been
dating from that day in 1894 when Colonel Sartoris,the mayor--he who fathered the edict that no Negro woman should appear on the streets without an apron-remitted her taxes,the dispensation dating from the death of her father on into perpetuity.
這一大段都是定語,修飾a sort of hereditary obligation upon the town
描述這是怎樣一種世襲的義務(wù).
Alive,Miss Emily had been a tradition,a duty,and a care；（這里的分號把你忽悠了吧^^）a sort of hereditary obligation upon the town,dating from that day in 1894 when Colonel Sartoris,the mayor--he who fathered the edict that no Negro woman should appear on the streets without an apron-remitted her taxes,the dispensation dating from the death of her father on into perpetuity.
我估計作者在這里打分號的原因是,如果打逗號,會產(chǎn)生歧義,后面那一大段有可能就會修飾a tradition,a duty,and a care,a sort of hereditary obligation upon the town.這四個東西
打分號,就把作者的意圖展現(xiàn)出來了,可能他是想強調(diào),這里修飾的更多的是 the hereditary obligation
順便多句嘴,語法是死的,語言是活的.大師寫文章,不按語法出牌很正常.