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General Compson
Wash Jones is a squatter whom Sutpen allows to live in the shed at the abandoned fishing camp on Sutpen’s Hundred. He’s embittered about his low status, especially following the emancipation of enslaved Black people after the South’s loss of the Civil War. He resents Clytie for not allowing him inside Sutpen’s mansion, an insult that mirrors the humiliation incident that propelled Sutpen’s ambitious quest to carry out his “design” years before. After Sutpen’s son Henry rejects his birthright and runs away, Sutpen initiates a sexual relationship with Wash Jones’s granddaughter, Milly, hoping to bear a male heir with her and continue his dynasty. However, after Wash overhears Sutpen insult Milly for giving birth to a girl, he murders Sutpen with a scythe before turning the blade on Milly, the newborn, and finally himself.
Wash Jones Quotes in Absalom, Absalom!
The Absalom, Absalom! quotes below are all either spoken by Wash Jones or refer to Wash Jones. 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 5 Quotes
I mean that he was not owned by anyone or anything in this world, had never been, would never be, not even by Ellen, not even by Jones’ granddaughter. Because he was not articulated in this world. He was a walking shadow.
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Wash Jones Character Timeline in Absalom, Absalom!
The timeline below shows where the character Wash Jones appears in Absalom, Absalom!. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 3
...concluding this chapter of his story, Miss Rosa didn’t know that Henry was alive until Wash Jones rode to Sutpen’s Hundred one afternoon and called out her name repeatedly.
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Chapter 4
...bed all day, shut in and waiting to die while Judith and Clytie keep house. Wash Jones and his daughter live in the abandoned fishing camp in the river bottom.
(full context)
...would have defied Henry. And all this leads to the point in the story when Wash Jones approaches Rosa Coldfield’s house to announce that Henry killed Bon.
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Chapter 5
The narrative switches back to Rosa telling her story to Quentin, picking up after Wash Jones tells her about Bon being killed. Rosa describes how she gathered her meager belongings...
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...that afternoon. Judith’s face is blank and unreadable as she cooks and serves food. Meanwhile, Wash Jones and some other white man construct Bon’s coffin with planks they take from the...
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...to forgive” in the first place. For she “never owned him,” nor did Ellen, nor Jones’s daughter (who, it’s rumored, died in a Memphis brothel). It was impossible for anyone to...
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Chapter 6
...Sutpen’s Hundred. Sutpen, at some point, begins a sexual relationship with Milly, the granddaughter of Wash Jones. (Wash Jones is the white man whom Sutpen gave permission to squat in the...
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...mare like Penelope. Then I could give you a decent stall in the stable.” Afterward, Wash Jones, who overheard Sutpen’s insult of his granddaughter, kills Sutpen with a scythe. The body...
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Chapter 7
...picks up with Sutpen’s efforts to regain his wealth following the Civil War. He and Wash Jones operate a general store, but most of the customers are newly freed Black people,...
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Meanwhile, Sutpen begins a sexual relationship with Wash Jones’s granddaughter, Milly. Wash accepts the situation initially, delivering gifts from the “Kernel” to Milly....
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...figures he’s headed toward the stable. It’s unclear how much she could have guessed about Wash’s granddaughter’s condition or how much she discerned from what Clytie knew. When Sutpen doesn’t return...
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...the events that led up to Sutpen’s death. Sutpen apparently went to the stable where Wash’s granddaughter and the baby she’d just given birth to were lying on the pallet. He...
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News of Wash’s murder of Sutpen spreads around town. Quentin’s grandfather, Major de Spain (the sheriff), and a...
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...disbelief that Sutpen, after wanting a son for so many years, could insult Milly, taunting Wash Jones into killing first him and then the baby. Quentin looks up, puzzled, and corrects...
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Chapter 8
...side by side. Judith and Clytie heard the shot ring out when Henry shot Bon. Wash Jones helped them carry the body into the house and then went to fetch Miss...
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