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Goodhue Coldfield
General Compson is Mr. Compson’s father and Quentin Compson’s grandfather. He was Sutpen’s only friend and loaned him the seed cotton he used to get started on his plantation. Because most of what Mr. Compson passes down to Quentin comes from stories that General Compson told him, Sutpen comes off as more sympathetic in sections told from Mr. Compson’s perspective.
General Compson Quotes in Absalom, Absalom!
The Absalom, Absalom! quotes below are all either spoken by General Compson or refer to General Compson. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 3 Quotes
That’s what Miss Rosa heard. Nobody knows what she thought.
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While waiting for it to be time for him to return to Rosa Coldfield’s house, where she’ll tell Quentin more of her story about her longstanding grudge against Thomas Sutpen, Quentin listens to Mr. Compson tell his own story about Sutpen, which he’s pieced together through details his own father (General Compson) told him. At this point in the story, Mr. Compson has just gotten to the argument that Henry Sutpen and Thomas Sutpen get into one fateful Christmas Eve. People know what came of the argument—Henry Sutpen renounced his birthright and left Sutpen’s Hundred with his close friend Charles Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum. Animi soluta perspiciatis. Ut minima autem. Modi omnis iure. Sint qu
Chapter 7 Quotes
“His trouble was innocence. All of a sudden he discovered, not what he wanted to do but what he just had to do, had to do it whether he wanted to or not, because if he did not do it he knew that he could never live with himself for the rest of his life […].”
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This passage comes from the section of the novel that summarizes Sutpen’s origins. It’s told from Quentin’s perspective, and based on the story his father, Mr. Compson, told him (which was based on the facts of Sutpen’s life that Sutpen himself told to Mr. Compson’s father, General Compson). Here, Quentin describes Sutpen’s reaction to the enslaved man redirecting him toward the back door of the planter’s mansion, a formative childhood experience that effectively shaped the entire trajectory of Sutpen’s life from that point forward, giving birth to the fierce ambition that would fuel his so-called “design.” This section of the Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum. Animi soluta perspiciatis. Ut minima autem. Modi omnis iure. Sint qui qui. Qui similique praesentium. Ex consequatur magnam. Aliquid iste enim. Sequi aut maxime. Adipisci voluptate et. Volupta
Chapter 9 Quotes
“Yes. I remember your grandpaw. You go up there and make her come down. Make her go away from here. Whatever he done, me and Judith and him have paid it out. You go and get her. Take her away from here.”
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Quentin has accompanied Miss Rosa to Sutpen’s derelict mansion, where Miss Rosa claims someone is hiding upstairs (that someone turns out to be the dying Henry Sutpen, who has been a fugitive for the past 43 years, ever since he murdered Charles Bon). Clytie, Sutpen’s daughter by one of his enslaved women, tries to stop Miss Rosa from walking upstairs to find (and, Clytie seems to fear, murder) Henry. She calls on Quentin to help her after a determined and scornful Rosa defies Clytie, knocking her to the ground when Clytie tries to stand in Rosa’s way. Clytie urges Quentin Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequ
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General Compson Character Timeline in Absalom, Absalom!
The timeline below shows where the character General Compson appears in Absalom, Absalom!. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
...it the way she wants it done.” And she picked Quentin for the job because his grandfather (General Compson) was the closest thing Colonel Sutpen had to a real friend. It’s her...
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Chapter 2
...goes. He never drinks at the Holston House bar, and it’s only years later that General Compson (Quentin’s grandfather) learns that this is because he had no money to pay for drinks....
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...into a swamp. The men were desperate for a meal after going days without food. General Compson once told his son, Quentin’s father, that Sutpen didn’t raise his voice to his enslaved...
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...himself. This goes on for three years, during which Sutpen also plants seed cotton, which General Compson loaned him. General Compson also offered to lend Sutpen money for furniture for the mansion,...
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...the crowd arrests him on the spot and so doesn’t learn this detail until later. General Compson and Mr. Coldfield go to the jail later to pay Sutpen’s bond and free him.
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Chapter 3
...with him for the holidays. Sutpen is away in New Orleans on business, but only General Compson and Clytie ever figure out what he’s doing there.
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Chapter 6
...afternoon in the summer of 1870—the summer Judith sold the store. In Mr. Compson’s telling, Quentin’s grandfather witnesses the arrival of Bon’s mistress—whom he assumes has come in response to Judith writing...
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Quentin’s grandfather isn’t sure who—Judith or Clytie—tells Charles Etienne he must be Black. Before this, the concept...
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...his own defense at the courtroom. The justice, Jim Hamblett, is making an indictment when Quentin’s grandfather enters and interrupts Hamblett’s speech. He pays Charles Etienne’s fine and takes Charles Etienne back...
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Judith waits outside Quentin’s grandfather ’s office while Charles Etienne and Quentin’s grandfather speak. Quentin’s grandfather asks if Charles Etienne...
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...take care of the woman and child—after all, her own father “begot one.” She says General Compson can sell some of the land to give Charles Etienne money to fund his journey....
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But nobody really knows what words Judith and Charles Etienne exchanged that day; certainly, Quentin’s grandfather doesn’t know. He only knows the story town gossip has settled on. After speaking with...
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Chapter 7
...in Mississippi. The architect Sutpen hired to design his mansion tried to escape. Sutpen alerted Quentin’s Grandfather and some other townsfolk, then he got his dogs and enslaved people to go after...
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...the cave-like space under a fallen oak tree. (When Sutpen later recounted the insult to Quentin’s grandfather , Quentin relates to Shreve in the novel’s present, Sutpen insisted that he wasn’t angry...
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Sutpen apparently conveyed this story of his youth to Quentin’s grandfather as they waited for Sutpen’s enslaved Black men and dogs to track down the escaped...
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Sutpen told Quentin’s grandfather that he attended school for a few months when he was 13 or 14, not...
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...that he can’t clarify any of these points, as Sutpen stopped telling the story to Quentin’s grandfather at this point in the chronology. Inwardly, Quentin thinks about how cold their room is....
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Quentin tells Shreve that it took Sutpen 30 years to continue telling the story to Quentin’s grandfather , perhaps because Sutpen was too busy “furthering that design which he had in mind.”...
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...the story of Sutpen’s “design,” and Quentin obliges, telling the story Sutpen resumed telling to Quentin’s grandfather 30 years after he abruptly stopped. At this point, Sutpen recognizes he’s old and doesn’t...
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Back in the past, as Sutpen tells his story to Quentin’s grandfather , he tries to explain his choice to disown his first wife and child. Quentin’s...
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Quentin explains that General Compson thinks that Sutpen probably named Charles Bon himself, just as he’d named all his other...
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...she saw Bon’s name mentioned in one of Henry’s letters (at least, this is what Quentin’s grandfather assumes must have happened).
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...that there is no stopping Bon, so he shifts his focus to Henry. Sutpen ( Quentin’s grandfather believed) knows that Henry will take “the lie” Sutpen tells him as truth. He also...
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Sutpen, upon returning home from the war, goes to see Quentin’s grandfather to see if he can guess what “mistake” Sutpen made and how it has come...
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Shreve interrupts Quentin’s story at this point to clarify that Quentin’s grandfather didn’t know what Sutpen was talking about when he mentioned the first wife not being...
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...and resumes his story, picking up when Sutpen leaves for Virginia following his discussion with Quentin’s grandfather about what to do about Bon’s reappearance and intentions with Judith.
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From Sutpen, Quentin’s grandfather learns that Sutpen rode to Quentin’s grandfather’s old regiment’s headquarters and spoke to Henry there....
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...town flaunting these gifts from Sutpen—beads and ribbons, and even a new dress. One day, Quentin’s grandfather ventures by Sutpen’s store and hears Sutpen and Wash arguing about Milly.
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News of Wash’s murder of Sutpen spreads around town. Quentin’s grandfather , Major de Spain (the sheriff), and a group of other men assemble, bringing dogs...
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Chapter 9
...up. She asks who he is, and he tells her. Clytie tells Quentin she knew his grandfather . Then she urges Quentin to stop Miss Rosa from going upstairs. But Miss Rosa...
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