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Milly Jones
Shreve McCannon is Quentin’s roommate at Harvard and one of the story’s narrative voices. Quentin relates to Shreve the stories that Rosa Coldfield and Mr. Compson have told to him about Thomas Sutpen, and Shreve responds by repeating the stories back to Quentin—often for clarification, as many aspects of the stories seem too fantastical to be true, and also to offer joking, glib commentary. Shreve’s flippant responses to Quentin’s story demonstrate how his status as a Canadian makes it impossible for him to grasp the weight and full significance of the stories Quentin tells him (most of which are set in the American South).
Shreve McCannon Quotes in Absalom, Absalom!
The Absalom, Absalom! quotes below are all either spoken by Shreve McCannon or refer to Shreve McCannon. 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 6 Quotes
Tell about the South. What’s it like there. What do they do there. Why do they live there. Why do they live at all […]
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This passage comes at the beginning of Chapter 6, when the main action shifts to Cambridge, Massachusetts. There, the novel continues to develop Sutpen’s story, with Quentin Compson telling his roommate Shreve all that he’s learned about Sutpen and about the South. Shreve is Canadian, and as a Northerner, he—like most of Quentin’s classmates at Harvard—are totally unfamiliar with the culture of the South, its history, and how the burden of that inherited history weighs on Quentin and other members of the younger generation of Southerners who have grown up amidst elders who remember the impact the war had on 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
“Yes,” Quentin said. He sounds just like Father he thought, glancing (his face quiet, reposed, curiously almost sullen) for a moment at Shreve leaning forward into the lamp, his naked torso pink-gleaming and baby-smooth, cherubic, almost hairless, the twin moons of his spectacles glinting against his moonlike rubicund face, smelling (Quentin) the cigar and the wistaria, seeing the fireflies blowing and winking in the September dusk.
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Quentin and Shreve are in their dorm room at Harvard, and Quentin listens as Shreve repeats back to him the story of Sutpen that Quentin has just told him. As Shreve speaks, Quentin observes how much “like Father” (Mr. Compson) Shreve sounds. This is because Quentin himself, when he related the story to Shreve, drew from the language and tone that Mr. Compson used when he first told the story to Quentin. Quentin’s observation thus reinforces the novel’s broader examination of the ways in which storytelling influences and creates truth. In the novel, words and speech aren’t ephemeral things—they are 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 accusa
But you were not listening, because you knew it all already, had learned, absorbed it already without the medium of speech somehow from having been born and living beside it, with it, as children will and do […]
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These are Quentin’s thoughts as he starts to feel increasingly out of control listening to Shreve retell portions of the Sutpen story. In this chapter, the narrative perspective becomes increasingly difficult to discern as Shreve’s voice melds with Mr. Compson’s voice and with all the other voices through which Quentin has gradually come to know the history of Sutpen and of the South. The disorienting quality of this chapter reflects Quentin’s general anxiety and unease about confronting the South’s past. Here, he reflects on the burden of inherited history he’s been forced to shoulder, practically from the moment he was 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 de
Chapter 7 Quotes
“So he just wanted a grandson,” he said. “That was all he was after. Jesus, the South is fine, isn’t it. It’s better than the theatre, isn’t it. It’s better than Ben Hur, isn’t it. No wonder you have to come away now and then, isn’t it.”
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Quentin is at Harvard, telling his roommate Shreve the story of Sutpen that Mr. Compson and Miss Rosa Coldfield related to him in the first half of the novel. For the most part, the scenes between Quentin and Shreve consist of Shreve retelling excerpts of the Sutpen story that he’s already heard from Quentin and then turning to Quentin for clarification that he’s understood everything correctly. Shreve also interjects with glib (sometimes to the point of being disrespectful) commentary about the South that expresses his amusement at some of the more unbelievable elements of Quentin’s story and highlights his outsider’s 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
“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 8 Quotes
There would be no deep breathing tonight.
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This quote opens Chapter 8. In a college sitting room at Harvard, Shreve continues to make sense of Quentin’s story of Sutpen and the South. As the boys work through Sutpen’s story together, Quentin, a Southerner unacquainted with the harsh winter climate of the North, struggles to keep warm. He remains constantly aware of the cold and his resultant discomfort, and his thoughts about this discomfort, regularly interrupt the flow of the main narrative. When the narrative, seemingly from Quentin’s perspective, states that there will “be no deep breathing tonight,” it’s literally describing how the intense cold of the evening 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
That was why it did not matter to either of them which one did the talking, since it was not the talking alone which did it, performed and accomplished the overpassing, but some happy marriage of speaking and hearing wherein each before the demand, the requirement, forgave condoned and forgot the faulting of the other—faultings both in the creating of this shade whom they discussed (rather, existed in) and in the hearing and sifting and discarding the false and conserving what seemed true, or fit the preconceived—in order to overpass to love, where there might be paradox and inconsistency but nothing fault nor false.
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At Harvard, in the novel’s present, Shreve continues to make sense of Quentin’s story of the South. Beginning in Chapter 5, the action skips ahead several months and the setting shifts from Jefferson, Mississippi to Cambridge, Massachusetts. In the latter half of the book, a different set of narrators takes over the telling of Sutpen’s story. Beginning in this chapter and for the remainder of the book, Quentin and Shreve take over much of the narration, with Quentin adding details missing from the first version of the story he told Shreve, and Shreve repeating back sections of the story to 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. Voluptas suscipit alias. In et eveniet. Eaque et repellendus. Dolores aut voluptatibu
—Yes. What else can I do now? I gave him the choice. I have been giving him the choice for four years.
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This passage is Bon’s response to Henry after Henry pleads with Bon not to marry Judith—Henry’s sister and Bon’s half-sister. Despite Henry’s earlier acceptance of Bon’s plan to go through with the incestuous marriage (which, in this version of the story, he formulates in order to get back at Sutpen for abandoning him and then failing to acknowledge him as his son), Henry rescinds his approval after learning of Bon’s mixed-race ancestry. Here, Bon shifts the blame away from himself and toward Sutpen. For the past four years, ever since Henry first brought Bon home to visit Sutpen’s Hundred (at 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. Voluptas suscipit alias. In et eveniet. Eaque et repellendus. Dolores aut voluptatibus. Voluptatem qui voluptatum. Voluptatibus sed placeat. Aut tenetur autem. Fugit voluptates in. Quidem impedit sunt. Excepturi ullam nobis. Ducimus odio quo. Ut autem harum. Omnis vel v
Chapter 9 Quotes
Wait. Listen. I’m not trying to be funny, smart. I just want to understand it if I can and I dont know how to say it better. Because it’s something my people haven’t got. Or if we have got it, it all happened long ago across the water and so now there aint anything to look at every day to remind us of it. We dont live among defeated grandfathers and freed slaves […] and bullets in the dining room table and such, to be always reminding us to never forget.
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Quentin and Shreve are sitting in their dorm room at Harvard as Shreve repeats back the story of the South that Quentin has just told him. Shreve has been making glib jokes throughout, treating the story’s subjects as fictional characters and making light of topics that affect Quentin so deeply that he can hardly speak of them aloud. In this passage, Shreve defends (or at least explains) why he has responded to Quentin’s story the way he has while also reaffirming his genuine desire to understand the deeper significance of Quentin’s story, at least as well as he can as 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. Ani
“[…] Now I want you to tell me just one more thing. Why do you hate the South?”
“I dont hate it,” Quentin said, quickly, at once, immediately; “I dont hate it,” he said. I dont hate it he thought, panting in the cold air, the iron New England dark: I dont. I dont! I dont hate it! I dont hate it!
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This exchange between Quentin Compson and his roommate Shreve concludes the novel. Quentin and Shreve have finished working through Quentin’s telling of the story of Sutpen. The activity took the form of a back-and-forth exchange wherein Quentin would tell sections of the story to Shreve, and then Shreve would respond by repeating back bits of the story to ensure that he grasped what Quentin had just told him, peppering his speech with glib jokes that emphasized his ignorance about the story’s subjects and region. Now Shreve poses one final question to Quentin: “Why do you hate the South?” Shreve’s question 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. Voluptas suscipit alias. In et eveniet. Eaque et repellendus. Dolores aut voluptatibus. Voluptatem qui voluptatum. Voluptatibus sed p
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Shreve McCannon Character Timeline in Absalom, Absalom!
The timeline below shows where the character Shreve McCannon appears in Absalom, Absalom!. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 6
The narrative picks up in 1910 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Quentin and his roommate Shreve, a Canadian, are sitting in their dorm room at Harvard. An opened letter sits on...
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Quentin has been telling Shreve what happened after Miss Rosa told him that someone was hiding in the old house...
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Shreve repeats back the basic arc of Rosa’s life, starting with the childhood she spent “in...
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Shreve’s account also sheds light on the insult that caused Rosa to leave Sutpen’s Hundred: Sutpen...
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Shreve continues to clarify points of the story Quentin has told him. After turning Henry against...
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As Shreve talks, Quentin thinks to himself, “He sounds just like Father.” Quentin observes Shreve, “naked torso...
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In the present, Shreve halts his retelling of the Sutpen saga to ask about a story Quentin told him...
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“Yes,” Quentin says, as the story shifts forward in time to 1910. He and Shreve are at Cambridge, and Shreve is repeating back to Quentin the story of the South...
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Chapter 7
It’s cold in Shreve and Quentin’s room in Cambridge. Shreve glibly announces that the point of Quentin’s story is...
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...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 about the insult. He merely...
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In the present, Shreve interrupts Quentin’s story, urging Quentin, “Go on.” Quentin repeats the words he spoke before Shreve’s...
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Quentin tells Shreve that it took Sutpen 30 years to continue telling the story to Quentin’s grandfather, perhaps...
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Shreve interjects at this point to ask about Sutpen’s shady business dealings and how Mr. Coldfield...
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Shreve urges Quentin to continue the story of Sutpen’s “design,” and Quentin obliges, telling the story...
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As Quentin speaks, Shreve jokingly remarks that Quentin sounds just like his father. This prompts Quentin to sink into...
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At this point, Shreve wordlessly rises and goes to put on his bathrobe, leaving Quentin alone at the table...
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Shreve interrupts Quentin to ask why Quentin’s father told Quentin that the fight between Sutpen and...
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Shreve interrupts Quentin’s story at this point to clarify that Quentin’s grandfather didn’t know what Sutpen...
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Shreve clarifies that Sutpen “chose lechery,” making a joke that he would do the same. Then...
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...grandfather’s old regiment’s headquarters and spoke to Henry there. Then he left that same night. (Shreve, in the present, clarifies that Sutpen made his choice to “play[] that trump card after...
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...“hav[ing] to hear it all again” as he tells the rest of the story to Shreve. At this point, the narrative perspective becomes unclear as it describes Sutpen returning home from...
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In the present, Shreve expresses disbelief that Sutpen, after wanting a son for so many years, could insult Milly,...
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Chapter 8
Quentin and Shreve sit in a college sitting room. Shreve continues to make sense of Quentin’s story. He...
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Quentin and Shreve continue to debate what must have happened in the library that day. Shreve says that...
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Next Shreve and Quentin imagine how Bon came to attend college. In their retelling, Bon leaves home...
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In Shreve and Quentin’s retelling of the story, the lawyer sends a letter to Henry Sutpen, introducing...
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In the novel’s present, Shreve announces to Quentin that they’re now “going to talk about love.” In Shreve’s telling of...
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Shreve and Quentin continue their story, picking up the Christmas that Henry invites Bon to accompany...
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Shreve, in the present, guesses that Ellen must have executed her own scheme to marry Judith...
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Quentin and Shreve’s story of Henry and Bon continues. Henry and Bon return to Sutpen’s Hundred—Bon’s second visit—the...
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...Bon returns home to New Orleans. He never learns if Sutpen was actually there. In Shreve’s version of the story, Bon confirms the truth of the lawyer and his mother’s scheme...
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Bon returns to school, where Henry is waiting for him. It’s at this point (Shreve guesses) that Bon finally starts writing letters to Judith, with “Charles Bon” written clearly on...
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Then (in Shreve’s telling), it’s Christmas once more, and Bon and Henry return to Sutpen’s Hundred. Bon expects...
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In the present, Shreve stops speaking, and he and Quentin sit together in silence. It’s not even clear which...
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...the French sugar planter” whose father had lied to Sutpen about her racial background. In Shreve and Quentin’s imagined version of the story, she already knows that Bon is “in love”...
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In Shreve and Quentin’s telling of the story, the lawyer and Bon will finally reach an understanding—if...
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...out of the Union, and then there are two presidents. Then the Civil War begins. Shreve and Quentin imagine the conversation Henry and Bon must have had around that time. Henry,...
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At this point, Quentin and Shreve imagine Bon and Henry fighting in the Battle of Shiloh. Shreve insists that Mr. Compson...
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Quentin and Shreve’s story skips forward in time. Now it’s the winter of 1864, and the army has...
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The narrative shifts suddenly to Shreve’s retelling of what Quentin and Miss Rosa encountered in the old house the night Miss...
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In Shreve and Quentin’s retelling, it’s possible that Bon and Henry rode to Sutpen’s Hundred together, approaching...
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Shreve, in the present, speculates that Bon was trying to protect Judith when he removed Judith’s...
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Chapter 9
Quentin and Shreve return to their dorm room, where it seems even colder than it was when they...
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Shreve says he can’t imagine coming from the South and having to endure such cold weather....
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Shreve returns the focus to “Aunt Rosa,” brushing off Quentin’s correction (“Miss Rosa”). Shreve says that...
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The action returns to the present, to Shreve and Quentin’s cold dorm room in Cambridge. Shreve expresses disbelief that after encountering Henry after...
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Shreve and Quentin relate the rest of the story. Three months after Miss Rosa and Quentin...
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In Quentin and Shreve’s telling of the story, the ambulance can’t get to the house in time—and Clytie probably...
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Shreve picks up the story. Miss Rosa returns to town and goes to bed that night...
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Quentin doesn’t say anything as Shreve speaks; he simply stares at the window. Then he reflects, “I am older at twenty...
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Shreve laments how each Sutpen met their end: Charles Bon and his mother killed “old Tom,”...
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Shreve poses one final question to Quentin: “Why do you hate the South?” Quentin insists he...
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