How does racism shape Thomas Sutpen’s downfall in Absalom, Absalom!?

In William Faulkner’s Absalom, Absalom!, Thomas Sutpen’s downfall is fundamentally driven by his rigid adherence to a destructive ideology of racial superiority. After experiencing a formative insult by a Black servant in his youth, Sutpen becomes obsessed with transcending his impoverished origins by establishing a slave-driven dynasty, known as "Sutpen’s Hundred".1

His obsession with racial hierarchy leads him to reject his first wife and their son, Charles Bon, upon discovering their mixed-race heritage. This act of exclusion, rooted in his refusal to acknowledge his own lineage, sets in motion the tragic collapse of his family and his ambitions. Ultimately, Sutpen’s dehumanizing pursuit of status and his inability to reconcile with the complexities of his past—and the humanity of those he oppresses—result in the ruin of his plantation and the disintegration of his legacy. Through this narrative, Faulkner exposes the profound moral hypocrisy and social decay inherent in the race-based culture of the American South.21