Absalom, Absalom! Race Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #10

"He must not marry her, Henry. His mother's father told me that her mother had been a Spanish woman. I believed him; it was not until after he was born that I found out that his mother was part negro" (8.53).

Sutpen explains to Henry exactly why Charles Bon can't marry Judith. He is part black, and that little tidbit is just not part of his plan. (And you know what happens when something isn't part of Sutpen's plan…)

Quote #11

"So it's the miscegenation, not the incest, which you can't bear" (8.63).

This is pretty funny to a twenty-first century reader. Sutpen has no problem with his daughter marrying her half-brother: incest is totally acceptable. It's the mixed-race thing that will be the problem. What?!