Study Questions

1. Who are the main narrators of this chapter?

2. What is their verbal relationship?

3. How does Faulkner bring the reader’s perceptions and expectations back into a “present”?

4. What is the letter that Quentin is holding in his hand about?

5. Which character freely uses colloquial language like “this old gal” and “this old dame”?

6. Who does Quentin think Shreve sounds like?

7. What scene does Quentin remember?

8. Which character is often referred to as “the demon”?

9. Who does the demon drink moonshine with while laying on a hammock?

10. How is Charles Etienne Bon related to Judith and to Clytie?

Answers

1. Quentin Compson and Shreve McCannon, two students at Harvard, are the two main narrators of this chapter.

2. Shreve is telling the story as a series of questions directed at Quentin, and Quentin is answering “yes.”

3. When Faulkner wants to shift the time setting of the narrative to the present, he provides some concrete details, such as dust on the blinds or snow on a sleeve.

4. The letter that Quentin is holding is a letter from his father, announcing the death of Miss Rosa.

5. Shreve McCannon uses colloquial language like “this old gal” and “this old dame.”

6. Quentin thinks Shreve sounds like his father, Mr. Compson.

7. Quentin remembers when he and his father visited the graveyard to see the headstones of the Sutpen and Coldfield clans.

8. Thomas Sutpen is often referred to as “the demon” by Miss Rosa, and by others who have heard her tale.

9. Thomas Sutpen, the demon, drinks moonshine while laying on a hammock with Wash Jones, the itinerant handyman.

10. Charles Etienne Bon is a nephew to both Judith Sutpen and Clytie.