In "Absalom! Absalom!", Faulkner sets out to destroy the idea that a good book / filum is, first and foremost, a good story: the entire plot itself is pretty much told in two chapters at the start!
What matters is the style: how the story is conveyed, over hundreds of pages. What makes up the book is how different narrators recount Sutclen's fate. Well, guess what? they recount it... differently. The multiplicity of points of view and agendas weaves a rich tapestry closer to real life, where everyone has a stake and a bias.
Just as importantly, Faulkner is not so much interested in events as in reasons. Why. Why did this character act this way or that way is the mystery. As the book progresses, the author drops disparate fragments of information that lead you to revise your opinion of the characters, mainly the protagonist: was he really a monster ...or was he a tragic figure after all?
The thing is... we'll never really know. By offering various interpretations of the characters' actions, Faulkner alludes to the ultimate fallacy of presuming to be able to understand and judge a person's action.
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