I
want to start off this post by saying that I by no means intend for this post
to be overtly controversial; however, I felt as if race played an important
part in Chapter 7 and needed to be discussed. Race and class in Absalom, Absalom! are prominent themes
in the book, but not predictably so.
In
chapter 7, Quentin and Shreve imagine what Sutpen thought about race growing
up, which is also filled in by stories that Quentin has heard from General
Compton and it raises some interesting points. Faulkner notes that Sutpen
probably learned about race subconsciously, that there was a different way of
defining a man in terms of race instead of in terms of general worth. He
describes as Sutpen learns the difference between white people who have things
and those that don’t, and he also writes about when Sutpen begins to realize
that even as a very poor white person he is considered above non-whites by
society. I think this is best described on page 186 when Sutpen tells General
Compton, “(you knew that you could hit them, he told Grandfather, and they
would not hit back or resist.)”
However, what is more important in
the novel is Sutpen’s perception of class. It is when he is fourteen that he is
yelled at by a black servant at the plantation his family is working on, and is
appalled and embarrassed that he is not even allowed to enter the front door.
This is a pivotal moment in Sutpen’s life because it is when he decides to run
away and create a name for himself; his goal is to be seen as an equal to those
that have plantations. It is interesting to me how fine a between being white, which is a clear advantage at this point in US history, and yet he is so poor that he
cannot go in through the front door, he must use the back door like he is help
in a white man’s house.
Chapter 7 provided the reader an opportunity to observe some of the racial norms in the South during this era. I agree with Abby in that Faulkner’s description of how Sutpen first differentiated between white and black people in southern society played an important role in developing his character as a whole. He also realizes that there are differences between the rich plantation owners and the poorer white people including his own family. It is not until Sutpen sees this wealth and power the plantation owner controls that the desire is born to go out and accumulate the same for himself, and take the first step in building his own dynasty.
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