Shreve

Shreve is Quentin's roommate at Harvard. In //AA!// Shreve is introduced to the reader in the 6th chapter of the novel. In this section of the novel the narration switches from Miss Rosa to Quentin and Shreve. When Quentin and Shreve take over the narrative Shreve asks Quentin to tell him about the South. Shreve is originally from Canada and they are both at Harvard at the moment. Shreve's Canadian identity allows for Quentin to give the unfiltered Supten story. If Shreve was from somewhere inside America Quentin and the reader could assume that Shreve will have biases about the "story of the south." Shreve's identity highlights the differences between Quentin and Shreve. This also allows Shreve to be removed from any historical bias. Shreve's presence in the novel creates a tension with the narrative. Shreve starts to take ownership of the narrative and interrupt and correct Quentin, "Because he was born in West Virginia, the mountains where-- ('Not in West Virginia' Shreve said.')" (AA!, 179). Shreve's interruption of the narrative questions the validity of Quentin's storytelling and it also creates a confusion as the reader does not know who to follow. Shreve continues to take over the narrative more and more as the novel furthers. Shreve begins to articulate parts of the story, in Chapter 8 he takes over and starts speaking about Charles Bon. Shreve's interruptions started as parentheticals and have quickly escalated to him taking up classic narrative quotes. In the final chapter, Quentin details the demise of the Supten dynasty. At the end of the story, instead of someone who wanted to //hear// a story about the south, Shreve has become a commentary and a rival for the narrator. Shreve is someone that has the ability to manipulate the narrative that Quentin wants the reader and Shreve to know. Shreve becomes and interrogator instead of a listener. After the story, Shreve asks "So it takes two niggers to get rid of one Supten, don't it?" Faulkner adds in that "Shreve did not want an answer now; he continued without a pause" (AA!, 302). Shreve has shifted into an interrogation mode on the last page of the novel. He is someone who is now injecting his views on the story and ruining what would be an end to Quentin's story. He continues with "Why do you hate the south?" (AA!, 303) This question disrupts Quentin's identity as a Southerner. Shreve at the end of the novel has successfully taken over as narrator, his question catapults Quentin into a state of denial and questioning. Quentin has been slowly losing control over his story, and Shreve ultimately takes over and has shifted the focus from the story of Supten to the fall of Supten and to the fall and disgrace of the Southern identity.

 Faulkner, William. //Absalom, Absalom! the corrected text//. New York: Modern Library, 1993. Print.