The Main Story

The story of Thomas Sutpen is told by four different narrators during the course of Absalom, Absalom! First, Rosa Coldfield tells the story, then subsequent versions reveal added elements of Sutpen's story.

Thomas Sutpen arrives in Jefferson, Mississippi, in 1833. An enigmatic figure, he never reveals much about his past or his reasons for choosing Jefferson as the site for his home. He comes with a group of "wild" slaves (presumably from Haiti), a French architect, and construction tools. Rumors abound about the mysterious Sutpen, and two years later, his plantation home is complete but empty. Sutpen's relationship with the community becomes friendlier when he begins inviting the men to come stay and hunt on his land. Nestled on one hundred square miles of land that he cheated out of a Native American, the estate is named Sutpen's Hundred.

Sutpen enjoys violent wrestling with his slaves...