Henry Sutpen Character Analysis

Henry Sutpen is Thomas Sutpen’s son. He’s an impressionable young man who becomes close friends with Charles Bon (who, unbeknownst to Henry, is Sutpen’s illegitimate son) when the two meet while attending the University of Mississippi. Bon’s refined, cosmopolitan sensibilities enchant Henry, and he soon takes to imitating his style and dress—all the while failing to realize that Bon is his half-brother. In fact, Henry is so enamored of Bon that he goes out of his way to encourage Bon’s courtship of Judith, Henry’s sister—and Bon’s half-sister. In this way, Henry is involved in an incest conflict with Bon and Judith. There are hints throughout the book that Henry and Judith’s sibling relationship is closer than natural, and it’s possible that Henry’s initial enthusiasm for Bon and Judith’s engagement—even before he knows Bon is their half-sibling—could reflect Henry’s unconscious desire to wed his own sister. After Sutpen reveals to Henry the truth of Bon’s identity, Henry initially rejects his birthright, sides with Bon, and even comes to accept Bon and Judith’s incestuous engagement. However, Henry later betrays and murders Bon outside the gate to Sutpen’s Hundred after Sutpen discloses the truth of Bon’s mixed ancestry—apparently finding the idea of Judith marrying a Black man more horrifying than the prosect of incest. After the murder, Henry goes into hiding, only returning to Sutpen’s Hundred as an old man to die there. Clytie cares for him, hiding him away in the old house until Rosa and Quentin discover him there at the end of the story. When Rosa later returns to the house to bring Henry medical attention, Clytie mistakes the ambulance for the authorities come to finally hang Henry for Bon’s murder. She then lights the house on fire, killing herself and Henry.