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Dramatic Irony
Chapter 5
Explanation and Analysis—The Murder:
Much of the novel is presented in the form of flashbacks by those, like General Compson and Rosa, who have some direct memory of the events surrounding the murders of Charles Bon and Thomas Sutpen. In one pivotal flashback, Rosa recounts her memory of Charles's death:
And how I traversed those same twelve miles once more after the two years since Ellen died [...] knowing nothing, able to learn nothing save this: a shot heard, faint and far away and even direction and source indeterminate, by two women, two young women alone in a rotting house [...] then feet, in the hall and then on the stairs, running, hurrying, the feet of a man: and Judith with just time to snatch up the unfinished dress and hold it before her as the door burst open upon her brother, the wild murderer [...]
After Wash Jones informs Rosa of the death of Charles, she immediately travels the "twelve miles" to Sutpen's Hundred in a buggy, bringing only her meager possessions. She remembers how, at that time, all she knew was that there was a "shot heard, faint and far away," but she took off without any more information. She recalls arriving at the home in time to hear "feet, in the hall and then on the stairs, running, hurrying, then feet of a man" and seeing Judith "with just time to snatch up the finished dress and hold it before her" before Henry, "the wild murderer," appears at the door.
Rosa recounts this memory in a vivid, active fashion, as if it is again taking place before her eyes. This flashback is pivotal in the novel, as it offers a relatively direct, first-hand account of the events shortly following the murder. However, Rosa herself was not an actual witness to the murder, and she only heard about it from Wash Jones, marking her as an unreliable narrator.
Related Themes:
