I found a new theme of the novel begin to emerge as the
reader is exposed to the point of view of Charles Sutpen for the first time in
chapter seven. Experiencing the description of Sutpen as a child rejected and
alone, transforms the book’s previous villain to a much more relatable
character. This description leads me to believe that Faulker was trying to make
a statement about the importance of viewpoint in this piece. Although
characters like Rosa believe the matter to be plain black and white, further
exploration into a complicated matter will often lead to a much more
complicated solution. Every story has different sides, and refusing to listen
to and embrace multiple versions may lead an outsider to a false interpretation
of the actual passing of events.
I think another lesson to be gained from the new exposure to
Supten’s life is that good intention does not necessarily yield the desired results.
Although Supten was trying to stop his daughter from forming an union marred by
incest, he ended up destroying his entire family and tarnishing his already
shady reputation. Overall, it is interesting to hear a validation for the acts
which at the beginning of the novel seemed so mysterious and incomprehensible.
I also think that this chapter is very important, and really opens the reader's eyes to the different ways to view the same event. As the story unfolds we see how Rosa's story has marred our previous views of Supten. Even the towns suspicions in the previous chapters make Supten out to be more corrupt than he actually is. We now see that there is more to his character, and thus more secrets to unveil. By seeing Supten's backstory, even from the mouth of Quentin, makes the reader now aware that there may be more to come that were not seen before the start of the novel.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with every thing that has been said here. As we see that there is more to Sutpen's character than we were previously presented with, I also begin to think more about techniques that Faulkner has used to kind of keep Sutpen's character in the dark. For example, something we talked about earlier in the book was Faulkner's use of "un--" in front of words describing Sutpen. As we said, in describing him as things that he is not, Faulkner is able to keep Sutpen's characterization rather open. Another of these techniques is the basic structure of the book, which give us only the mere speculations and opinions of the narrators (and townspeople) on Sutpen's character.
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