Faulkner uses these disparate voices to weave themes that contribute to the story's richness. Included in these themes is the implied dissolution of Southern aristocracy. The Compson family is on a personal and social decline that loosely parallels Nancy's decline. Mr. Compson is cold and detached; Mrs. Compson is whining and neurotic; 9-year-old Quentin is calm and rational; 7-year-old Caddy is inquisitive and daring; and 5-year-old Jason is unpleasant and obnoxious. As is always true of Faulkner, we have the distinction between the rich and the poor, and, more important, the inequality and the prejudice found in the treatment of blacks by their white counterparts. For example, Nancy is often a sexual object for some of the town's white men, and she assumes that the child she is carrying has a white father. We hear that her husband, Jesus, is not allowed to come even to the back doors or kitchens of white houses, to which he remarks, "But white man can hang around mine. White man can come in my house, but I cant stop him. When white man want to come in my house, I aint got no house." Such is the prejudicial double standard that still existed at the time of Faulkner's writing this short story.
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