To me, Quentin hearing this story only served to magnify his own problems with his sister and his personal ideals. Throughout the novel, he forces himself to experience the story through his own struggles in his life. He continuously reminds himself of his own downfall, comparing himself to Henry. I can't help but wonder if Henry going up in flames sent Quentin's mind rolling towards suicide. Would he have considered suicide before he witnessed the house burn down on top of Clytie and Henry? Is it possible that Quentin might have not killed himself if Miss Rosa had not called on him?
His last words in Absalom, Absalom, are just him reassuring himself that he is still loyal to the South--that he doesn't hate it. Yet he sits in that room with Shreve, many miles away. Yet he ran from it, from his birthplace. If he is thinking that he was born from something inherently impure, then surely he sees himself as a reflection of that impurity--which is also magnified with Sutpen's "innocent" desire, design. While he may or may not have felt this way before hearing Sutpen's story and seeing his legacy, would he have considered suicide before hearing it?
Or am I going around in a circle? What do y'all think?
Would he have gone on with it? THat's a good question; throughout his memory of the night visit to Sutpen's Hundred, he just wants to go home. There's something irrevocable about that moment--the truth of what happened to Henry, of how far even he, the one who acts "heroically," falls as a result of the decrepit system. Yes, this night visit certainly plays its part.
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