Critical Analysis of That Evening SunIn That Evening Sun, William Faulkner approaches the story through an anecdotal style that gives meaning to the story. The narrator uses the anecdote that happened to him to convey the underlying meaning of the story that people are limited by class and race, without realizing it himself at the time. The Age of Racism is about the meaning of history, discussing the aversion of Southern whites to helping those different from them, focusing on the restrictions that society has placed on the separation of social classes and races and the desire to maintain division. The style of That Evening Sun allows the narrator, Quentin, to have a more mature point of view and attitude. Because he tells the story now that he is an adult and the anecdote comes from a childhood memory, the details focus on smaller things. As an example, we see how Quentin takes the time to notice Nancy's eyes, remembering, "They looked like a cat's eyes" (296). The information is also given to the reader in a vague manner, showing how little Quentin understood of the events that had taken place. Quentin, for example, didn't know what the "swelling" under Nancy's dress was, and no doubt assumed the bump was a "watermelon" because that's what Jesus said. The reader must assume that since Nancy told Jesus that the baby "never comes off your vine," that the child is not Jesus'. However, the reader does not gain this knowledge from Quentin's understanding, because he is not mature enough, but rather interprets it from Nancy's words. The effect of asking Quentin, as an adult, to tell a childhood story is that the reader is made aware of chance observations he thought were imp...... middle of paper ..... .morality of racism, just the fact that racism is present and it was like that at that time. In the story the reader can see Nancy's feelings and thoughts so we see her as a real person but back then she was just a black woman and Quentin shows that was not racism that was intentional, but rather intentional racism. an upbringing that shaped the way black people were perceived. Additionally, Jason's repetition of "I'm not a nigger" is not meant in a callous way, but rather in a "that's just the way it is." Social commentary about racism and “just being there” is hidden in the kids’ ramblings. The children's comments show how attentive the children were to how adults presented racism. The purpose of this is to show a memory that came from youth and focused on blacks simply being the lower social class and race..