Can Monsters Have Hearts?

What exactly is a monster? The boogey man? A murderer? A pedophile? A child abuser? Were they evil to begin with or did they just turn that way? And more importantly, did they still have hearts? Some of them do not. But other surprisingly, still do have a heart tucked away somewhere. William Faulkner took the latter route in his story. Abner Snopes is an impulsive abusive arsonist. He beats on his son, Sarty, and sets barns on fire. On the surface, the man looks like a total monster. But yet, Faulkner does give Abner somewhat of a heart. A couple of quotes prove that well. The first one goes, “‘Pretty and white, ain’t it?’ he said. “That’s sweat. N****r sweat. Maybe it ain’t white enough yet to suit him. Maybe he wants to mix some white sweat with it.’” (Pg. 1960) On the surface it sounds cruel. But in sense, Abner seems to pity the blacks and poorer people who worked to make de Spain’s mansion. The second one goes, “‘You go back and git dinner,’ his father said. ‘Let me do it.’” (Pg. 1961) Abner does not seem to want his wife to do the hard work of moving the rug. So instead, he has her to get the food. Believe it or not, some monsters still have hearts.