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Storytelling, Perspective, and Truth
Themes and Colors
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Absalom, Absalom!, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Absalom, Absalom! takes place in Mississippi before, during, and after the American Civil War. Thomas Sutpen’s rise and fall throughout this time may be read as an allegory for the American South in a broader sense, examining how the South’s legacy of slavery continues to haunt the region in the aftermath of the Civil War. The Confederacy (comprised of Southern states that seceded from the Union) experienced great economic decline following its defeat in the Civil War, in part because slavery—which drove the South’s agricultural economy—was abolished. But almost immediately after, a period called Reconstruction effectively allowed former Confederate states to rebuild themselves on their own terms. This led to a series of racist, discriminatory laws against the region’s Black population aimed at restoring the South’s pre-war culture and thriving economy—while simultaneously failing to atone for or acknowledge the legacy of slavery that sustained that culture.
In the novel, Sutpen’s rise and fall mirror the South’s stubborn commitment to its old, racist ideals and inability to acknowledge the legacy of slavery. Sutpen’s life centers around his “design,” an ambitious plan he comes up with as child after an enslaved Black man disrespects him (or, at least, this is how Sutpen interprets the incident). His plan is to build a dynasty and amass respect and wealth. Sutpen ultimately moves to Mississippi and succeeds, achieving the quintessential vision of respectability as a Southern plantation owner. His success is spurred by a feeling of superiority over Black people, and it relies on a white supremacist culture and the institution of slavery. In this sense, Sutpen’s personal “design” is an allegory for how his society—that is, the pre-Civil War South—was structured.
But Sutpen makes one critical “mistake” along the way: he rejects his first-born child, Charles Bon, after discovering that Bon’s mother, Eulalia, has Black ancestry. When Charles Bon later reappears in Sutpen’s life, Sutpen rejects him because Bon’s Blackness has no place in Sutpen’s design—that is, within the racially discriminatory hierarchy of the Old South. Ironically, though, Sutpen’s rejection of Bon triggers a series of events (most notably, Henry Sutpen’s murder of Bon) that dooms Sutpen and his family to failure and despair. In this way, Sutpen’s loyalty to Southern ideals is his undoing, and its consequences continue to haunt his family for decades to come. Symbolically, then, Sutpen’s entire trajectory parallels the South’s defeat in the Civil War and its inability to come to terms with its legacy of slavery.
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The South ThemeTracker
The ThemeTracker below shows where, and to what degree, the theme of The South appears in each chapter of Absalom, Absalom!. Click or tap on any chapter to read its Summary & Analysis.
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The South Quotes in Absalom, Absalom!
Below you will find the important quotes in Absalom, Absalom! related to the theme of The South .
Chapter 1 Quotes
Then hearing would reconcile and he would seem to listen to two separate Quentins now—the Quentin Compson preparing for Harvard in the South, the deep South dead since 1865 and peopled with garrulous outraged baffled ghosts, listening, having to listen, to one of the ghosts which had refused to lie still even longer than most had, telling him about old ghost-times;
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This passage happens early in the story. Quentin is sitting in Miss Rosa’s stifling office as she tells him the story of her family’s history with Thomas Sutpen, the novel’s antagonist. For the past 43 years, Miss Rosa has held a grudge against Sutpen for destroying her family, and for reasons that Quentin has yet to (nor will ever) understand, she’s decided it’s finally time to lift the burden of that grudge from her shoulders by telling her story—and she’s selected Quentin as her audience. This passage illustrates Quentin’s shifting focus as he listens to Miss Rosa speak. As she 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 dolorem
His childhood was full of them; his very body was an empty hall echoing with sonorous defeated names; he was not a being, an entity, he was a commonwealth. He was a barracks filled with stubborn back-looking ghosts still recovering, even forty-three years afterward, from the fever which had cured the disease, waking from the fever without even knowing that it had been the fever itself which they had fought against and not the sickness, looking with stubborn recalcitrance backward beyond the fever and into the disease with actual regret, weak from the fever yet free of the disease and not even aware that the freedom was that of impotence.
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As Quentin Compson listens to Rosa Coldfield tell her story about the long-dead Thomas Sutpen and the curse he supposedly cast on her family, he thinks about all the “stubborn back-looking ghosts” who have kept the dead alive. Quentin has lived in the South all his life, and though he was born well after the Confederacy’s loss of the Civil War and the emancipation of the region’s enslaved people, the legacy of that haunting past lives on in a lingering pre-war culture and the people of that era who stubbornly try to sustain a former way of life (“the fever 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. Si
Chapter 2 Quotes
It was a day of listening too—the listening, the hearing in 1909 even yet mostly that which he already knew since he had been born in and still breathed the same air in which the church bells had rung on that Sunday morning in 1833 […].
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Quentin is sitting outside with his father, Mr. Compson, waiting for it to be time to return to Miss Rosa Coldfield’s house so she can continue telling him her story about the Coldfield family’s history with Thomas Sutpen and the grudge she’s held against Sutpen for the past 43 years. The story’s narration traces Quentin’s thoughts as he contemplates Miss Rosa’s story, the act of listening, and the way the South’s past continues to haunt its present. Though Quentin is listening to Miss Rosa’s story in the novel’s present (1909) and was born well after the Confederacy lost the Civil 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 lab
Chapter 3 Quotes
He brought the two women deliberately; he probably chose them with the same care and shrewdness with which he chose the other livestock—the horses and mules and cattle—which he bought later on.
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While waiting for it to be time to return to Miss Rosa Coldfield’s house to continue listening to her tell her story, Quentin listens to his father, Mr. Compson, tell his own story about Sutpen. Mr. Compson has just noted that an enslaved girl, Clytie, who lived on Sutpen’s estate, was in fact Sutpen’s daughter with one of the enslaved women he brought with him when he first came to Jefferson, Mississippi. Mr. Compson specifies that Sutpen “deliberately” brought the women with him, speculating that he “chose them with the same care and shrewdness with which he chose the other 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.
Chapter 5 Quotes
Now you will ask me why I stayed there. I could say, I do not know, could give ten thousand paltry reasons, all untrue, and be believed:—
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In this quote, Miss Rosa tries to defend and explain her choice to stay at Sutpen’s Hundred following the death of her father (Goodhue Coldfield) and the murder of Charles Bon. This becomes a pattern across the sections she narrates. It was Rosa’s choice to stay at Sutpen’s Hundred that indirectly led to her brief engagement to Sutpen, which led to Sutpen insulting her, which led to her fleeing the estate and living out the rest of her years as an embittered shut-in. Thus, it makes sense that Rosa would simultaneously try to justify her choice and also berate herself 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 mi
I waited for him exactly as Judith and Clytie waited for him: because now he was all we had, all that gave us any reason for continuing to exist, to eat food and sleep and wake and rise again: knowing that he would need us, knowing as we did (who knew him) that he would begin at once to salvage what was left of Sutpen’s Hundred and restore it.
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This passage is an excerpt from one of Rosa’s longer monologues during which she relates to Quentin the story of Thomas Sutpen’s rise and fall and the havoc he wreaked on her family. Here, she describes how life went on after she started living at Sutpen’s Hundred following Henry’s murder of Charles Bon. At this point, Sutpen is still away serving in the Civil War, and his estate (like all the estates in the region) has suffered in his absence. Clytie, Judith, and Rosa make do the best they can in Sutpen’s absence, but they exist in a sort of 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 itaq
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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This passage is told from Miss Rosa’s perspective. In it, she defends herself against rumors and accusations that she has never forgiven Thomas Sutpen for insulting her, which led to her calling off their engagement, fleeing Sutpen’s Hundred, and living out the rest of her days as a shut-in. Rosa claims that there was in fact nothing to blame Sutpen for in the first place, as “he was not owned by anyone or anything in this world.” She describes him as “not articulated in this world,” comparing him to “a walking shadow” rather than a physical entity tangibly tied 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 p
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
“[…] ‘I found that she was not and could never be, through no fault of her own, adjunctive or incremental to the design which I had in mind, so I provided for her and put her aside.’ […]”
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This quote is Sutpen’s supposed explanation to General Compson for why he abandoned his first wife (Eulalia Bon) and their son (Charles Bon). Regardless, Sutpen’s explanation for his choice gives readers insight into Sutpen’s character, the way he interacts with others, his extreme ambition, and the core values his “design” rests upon. Sutpen’s description of why he chose to abandon Eulalia and Bon—an act that is cruel, racist, and morally reprehensible—is frank and emotionless. He doesn’t express anger at learning about Eulalia’s mixed-race ancestry, and he explicitly notes that he doesn’t blame or think ill of Eulalia for her ancestry—he 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
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
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
“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
“[…] 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
