Faulkner immerses readers deeply into the thoughts of certain characters, particularly Temple and Horace. This approach fosters significant empathy for these unsettling characters. They endure suffering, strive to understand the reasons behind it, fail to grasp those reasons, and consequently suffer even more. In the final chapter, Faulkner implies that Popeye's life experiences are akin to theirs.

This example highlights a key aspect of Faulkner's technique in Sanctuary. Through his style, the sequence of events, the contrast of images, and various other methods, he both repels and draws in the reader. As a result, reading Sanctuary becomes an intense experience. While its initial popularity can be attributed to its sensational plot, the sustained interest over many years is puzzling given the challenging nature of the reading experience it provides.

Sanctuary gained a certain infamy primarily due to its controversial portrayal of sexual themes, particularly the abduction and rape of Temple Drake. However, the novel addresses much deeper issues, reflecting the sense of emptiness many artists felt in the spiritual life of the West after World War I. This sentiment mirrors the despair found in major works like F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby (1925) and Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises (1926). While echoing this bleak worldview, the novel also satirizes the conventions and themes of popular fiction of the time, including gothic romance, society romance, detective stories, crime, and thrillers. One reason for this satire is to undermine the simplistic explanations these genres often provide for social disorder and their proposed solutions.

A key focus of the novel is how society confronts evil. It depicts various responses to this issue, from denial and corruption to futile resistance and uneasy acceptance. Social institutions like religion and law are portrayed as largely ineffective, suggesting that the novel emphasizes the significance of moral education and personal choice for individuals.

Sanctuary stands out among Faulkner's works for its extensive use of popular genre conventions. Temple's journey echoes the tales of Gothic heroines, spanning from Horace Walpole to Stephen King. She transitions from one Gothic setting to another, starting at her university dormitory, moving to the dilapidated Goodwin mansion, then to a Victorian brothel in Memphis, and finally, the courthouse in Jefferson. Popeye nearly parodies the archetypal movie gangster, while Horace attempts to embody the hard-boiled detective persona. The novel's climax unfolds in a gripping courtroom drama. Elements of humor within the story evoke the styles of Mark Twain, George Washington Harris, S. J. Perelman, and Nathanael West. As Andre Malraux aptly observed, "Sanctuary is the intrusion of Greek tragedy into the detective story."

Sanctuary was initially published under unique circumstances. Faulkner often recounted a story he shared in his 1932 introduction to the Modern Library edition. He described the original manuscript as "a cheap idea, because it was deliberately conceived to make money." The manuscript was prepared for printing, but before he received the proofs, he published The Sound and the Fury (1929) and As I Lay Dying (1930). Upon reviewing the proofs, he felt ashamed of the book and decided to rework it, preserving as much of the original as possible but transforming it into a work that wouldn't discredit his other books. Since the release of Sanctuary: The Original Text in 1981, scholars and critics have largely agreed that the revised version is superior to the original, though the first version was not merely a cheap idea.

Today, readers can explore two different versions of Sanctuary as well as a sort of sequel, Requiem for a Nun (1951). Requiem for a Nun combines a continuation of Temple Drake's story in play form with...