The Story of Sutpen's Hundred

     Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner was, to say the least, a difficult book to read. Faulkner is not the easiest author to follow but once I understood just how to read his writing, it was truly brilliant. Absalom, Absalom! follows the rise and fall of Sutpen's Hundred in relationship to the rise and fall of the South during the Civil War. For a short period of time, everything seems to be fine but, quickly, war ruins both the Sutpen family and the South. In the end, the South is defeated by the North and left in ruins, just as Sutpen's Hundred is. However, the Sutpen's live on for some time, with Clytie still living in the rotting house with Jim Bond and, secretly, Henry Sutpen. Even though Rosa Coldfield, Thomas's wife's sister and temporarily his fiancee, doesn't know about Henry being in the house, she suspects that something is hiding there and cannot overcome her hate for Sutpen's Hundred, even though it has been years since it's major downfall. 

     However, once she does find out about Henry and overcomes her years of built up hate, Rosa sends an ambulance out to the plantation to try and save the dying Henry Sutpen. Clytie, though, thinks that they are coming to arrest Henry for the decades old murder of Charles Bon, so lights the house on fire, killing herself and Henry. The only one that escaped was Jim Bond. So, with the Sutpen legacy over in Rosa Coldfield's head, she dies. The reader is left with the memory of Jim Bon, though. The one who managed to escape and, in doing so, not quite end the Sutpen legacy. This made me feel as though the book did not quite come full circle, a slightly annoying realization. That fact, though, does coincide with what happened in the South. The Southerners lost, clearly, yet the "southern attitude" still existed, still exists today. Just like Shreve said, "I think that in time the Jim Bonds are going to conquer the western hemisphere."Deciphering one's feelings about Absalom, Absalom! is difficult but, in the end, this book is brilliant nonetheless.