Absalom Absalom Essay Research Paper AbsalomAbsalomThe South — страница 2

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Sutpen and his initiatives was pure. It wasn’t until after the birth of Judith that she realized how unhappy she really was, and how unhappy he could make her. But the South created such an establishment of marriage that she could do nothing but accept her tainted marriage. Henry and Charles are two very significant characters, although different, little do they realize that they have a very much in common, Sutpen. All Henry ever wanted was Charles’ love and Charles wanted the recognition from his father that he was, in fact, his son. However, Sutpen could not recognize Charles as a son, because this would bring him levels down on his own scale. This left Charles fatherless and confused. He wanted a life with this man, when he could not realize that Sutpen wanted to be as far

from Charles and Eulalia, as he could be. This brings us to Henry. Henry wanted acceptance and love from Charles because he was wealthy, well educated, and was going to marry Judith. Henry wanted nothing more than to live through this man. Charles would have all the things that Henry wanted, but he could not live to do all these things. After Sutpen relays the information of Charles being part Negro and his son, Henry realizes that he must destroy Charles. He kills him, partially in his loyalty to his father, and partly for his love for Judith. Through this, Sutpen destroys his own dynasty. He has driven one son to madness, the other son to his death, and his only daughter now is a widower. Thomas Sutpen will have no dynasty. Through these years of betrayal, lives are lost, and a

family is torn apart. Yet through it all, Thomas Sutpen never realizes the mistakes that he made. Innocence. This is not a word that many would connect with Thomas Sutpen or his actions. No, not immediately, however if we look at the core of the failure of his family, it is easier to understand how a man like Thomas Sutpen could, in fact, be innocent. From the start, Thomas Sutpen’s goals were not far off from many others at that period in time. He did not want to hurt any person that loved him, he only wanted to achieve his goal. “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…(178Faulkner)” However, being so set on his goal, he ignored any problems that had to do with his personal life. In fact, Thomas Sutpen never did have a personal life, he only did things for show. Marrying. Having children, slaves etc. Every act that he ever committed was for the future of his plantation and for his dynasty. It was never for those who cared for him. Sutpen did not realize that a child’s love is natural and cannot be removed. He never realized that someone could love him so much. So, he did not know how to deal with these problems and pushed them aside with money or his power. In order to fix a problem and make the situation better, the mistake must first be recognized and then fixed. If it is not realized them there is no true solution and the problem

will still exist. Some of the mistakes we create along the course of our lives are innocent and some are not. Thomas Sutpen did not see the downfall of his dynasty coming, because he never realized that he made any mistakes. Sutpen longed for the life that he could never truly have. In order to enjoy the finer things that he had always wanted, he needed to enjoy them with someone. When he finally achieved a goal, he only wanted more. Sutpen never truly appreciated what it was he had. He was never a happy man. He dug deeper and deeper to find what we wanted on and in this earth, until one day he had dug a hole so deep that it began to cave in. The mistakes that he made stayed unrecognized until the end, and then even he did not notice them. Faulkner tried through telling

Sutpen’s life, to demonstrate to us that by not taking responsibility in the mistakes we make, and not recognizing that they’re there, we will be doomed as a society. We are in fact digging our own graves. Until we can be responsible and caring, as a society, one by one we will destroy ourselves.