1. Why does Faulkner structure the novel as he does, with chapters that tell and re-tell the same basic sequence of events, though with some varying details and perspective? Faulkner famously remarked in his Nobel Prize speech that the only thing worth writing about was the “human heart in conflict with itself.” This novel states …
William Cuthbert Faulkner was born (as Falkner, with no “u” yet) on September 25, 1897, in New Albany, Mississippi. His father, Murry Falkner, was the humble son of John Wesley Thompson Falkner, a prominent banker in Oxford, Mississippi. Faulkner spent most of his childhood in Oxford, Mississippi, where his father was employed by the University of …
Out of quiet thunderclap he would abrupt (man-horse-demon) upon a scene peaceful and decorous as a schoolprize water color, faint sulphur-reek still in hair clothes and beard, with grouped behind him his band of wild niggers like beasts half tamed to walk upright like men, in attitudes wild and reposed, and manacled among them the …
Corruption and Decline of the South Many characters in the novel remark that the dishonor of people like Thomas Sutpen is that they have no scruples and seek personal gain without honor. In a system that permits the gross injustice of slavery, it is difficult to avoid attracting and encouraging cruel and unprincipled people, and …
Wistaria Wistaria is a clinging flower that is linked to feminine sexuality in Rosa Coldfields narration of her imagined connection with Charles Bon. Quentin seems to notice the wistaria when he visits Rosa in the beginning of the book, and wistaria appears in Jason Compsons discussion of Sutpen (entwined with cigar smoke). The Sutpen house …
SummaryThis is the last chapter in the book, and Quentin and Shreve still seem to be talking about the Sutpen family, though they really have only one thing left to talk about-what Quentin saw in the Sutpen house in September 1909, and what happened in December of 1909.In this chapter, Shreve asks a few direct …
Charles Bon: Charles Bon is the son of Thomas Sutpen and Eulalia Bon. He is raised in New Orleans by his mother as a worldly Creole gentleman. He marries an “octoroon” or one-eighth African-American mistress, and has a son, Charles Etienne de St. Valery Bon. He attends the University of Mississippi, and becomes friends with …
SummaryIn this chapter, Quentin and Shreve really delve into Charles Bons thoughts, trying to reconstruct his still unexplained thinking about his father (Sutpen) and his half-brother (Henry) and half-sister (Judith). In this chapter, too, Quentin and Shreve start to notice parallels between their quest for understanding and the quest that Henry and Bon were engaged …
SummaryThis chapter opens with a return to the present of the novel, 1910, at Harvard. Quentin and Shreve are still talking about the Sutpen family, and they are still working out the details of the family story.Shreve opens the chapter by making a comment about Sutpens goal of having a son. This leads to Quentin …
SummaryIn this chapter, the frame shifts to Harvard in January, 1910. Quentin and his Harvard roommate, Shreve McCannon, are talking about the Sutpen family. The chapter opens with reference to a recent letter from Quentins father about Rosa Coldfields death.The first half of the text of the letter is presented in the beginning of this …
