Rosa Coldfield in Faulkner's Absalom, Absalom!

Rosa Coldfield stands as the most prominent link between past and present in William Faulkner's Absalom, Absalom! Indeed, it is Miss Coldfield who is responsible for the inception of Quentin's investigation into the past. She requests that he come to her so that she can tell him some of his family's history before he sets off for college in the North. It is through her voice that both Quentin and the reader first encounter the near-mythic figure of colonel Sutpen. But the careful reader realizes early on that Rosa cannot be trusted as a truly reliable source. Her grim aspect and dark clothes, "the eternal black which she had worn for forty-three years now, whether for sister, father, or nothusband none knew" suggest that all is not right with Miss Coldfield (3). Indeed, as we learn more and more about Miss Coldfield, we begin...
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