<P> The governor has already refused to grant clemency for Nancy . Although Temple believes she is confessing to the governor, he has left his office and Temple's husband Gowan is sitting in his chair, which Temple realizes only after she has finished telling her story . Gowan tells Temple he too is sorry for his part in triggering the chain of events that happened eight years ago, but that the past is unchangeable and over . Temple worries about the salvation of her own soul . </P> <P> On the morning of Nancy's execution, Temple and Gavin visit her in her prison cell . Temple explains that she wanted to confess to the governor that Nancy was not solely responsible for the baby's death, and that she, Temple, caused the death eight years ago by going on the date with Gowan that led to her rape and the subsequent chain of events . Now Nancy must die for smothering the baby while Temple must live with the consequences of her own actions . Nancy tells Temple to trust in God and extols the virtues of suffering . </P> <P> At the time of publication, Requiem received mixed reviews . Malcolm Cowley in the New York Herald Tribune wrote that Requiem was "a drama conceived on a level of moral consciousness" that made it "genuinely tragic", and "in that respect it is vastly superior to Sanctuary, where the only morality was in the dim background of the author's mind ." Some critics were also intrigued or impressed by Requiem's experimental form combining novel and drama . However, Faulkner's writing style was criticized as clumsy or tedious, particularly in the dramatic sections, where the action was largely narrated rather than shown . Critics also found some aspects of the story to be implausible, unreal, and out of step with contemporary attitudes, particularly the characterization of Nancy as self - sacrificing and the motivation for her killing of Temple's baby . </P> <P> In later decades, the book was not considered marketable by publishers and for a time was not available in a paperback or other inexpensive edition . Its ongoing significance was primarily as a sequel to Faulkner's more highly regarded novel, Sanctuary . </P>

Who said the past isn't even past