Bayard Civil War Quotes

Bayard puts distance between himself and his father’s legacy by leaving to go college as a Law Major. Since the day Bayard and Ringo killed Grumby and nailed his body to the old compress, Bayard has struggled with the reality that he took someone’s life. This event makes him realize how much death the war had caused. As well as the war, Colonel Sartoris was the cause of many deaths because of his vengeful nature. As Bayard is readying to leave Professor Wilkins' house he realizes he is the head of the Sartoris family. He is unnerved by this reality because he has questioned himself, asking whether he was becoming like his father despite his feelings. Colonel Sartoris’ murder is now his test to “ find out if I am what I think I am or if I just hope; if I am going to do what I have taught myself is right or if I am just going to wish I were”(215). As Bayard shakes Professor Wilkins’ hand, he thinks to himself, “ thou shalt not kill” (216). No matter how strongly Bayard feels about his father’s reputation from the war, it is now time for him to fill the role of the

Bayard means that he must first have a clean conscience before anything else. Choosing to live with himself, Bayard will not be thought well of by the community. Upon making this decision, he starts falling short of the expectations that the community has which makes them think poorly of him. Nevertheless,This is a prime example of maturation because Bayard is making the integral decision to have internal clarity despite the immediate repercussions that may ensue. Not only is Bayard’s maturation exhibited, but also his distance from Colonel Sartoris’ legacy. Colonel Sartoris would revel in going to avenge a wrong against his foe no matter the uncertainty of what would await him. Fundamentally it is obvious that Bayard has chosen to be his own man rather than to act as his father