This passage goes on to note how black people laughed and tormented him. Wash's class standing was felt most when his fellow white man, Sutpen, would not allow Wash into his home, but would talk and drink with him outside (Wash 537). This would change quickly as the war ended and Sutpen returned home. The black people were now ousted in the community, thus nicely leaving a place for work for the poor white population. The white community was angry with the black population, so were inclined to want to hire white people instead. A more important shift can be noted in the remarkable change in the relationship between Sutpen and Wash. Wash is permitted inside the house, and begins to be seen as a more notable equal to Sutpen. The key word is seen, the facade would soon come down and the resiliency of the southern mentality revealed. .
Although the relationship between Sutpen and Wash became closer, they still are worlds apart. Wash still sees Sutpen as the southern gentlemen, and himself as the course poor man. Though marginally separated financially they still operate on the old southern ideas of class. Before the war Sutpen was forced to sit on the ground and drink while his Sutpen leisured in a hammock (Wash 539). Though there was a change after the war, they were inside and Sutpen was now in a chair while Wash was sitting on any piece of scrap left, the change was only minor. This marginal change of location would not help entirely shift the mentality of Sutpen. The ending of the story would finally help Wash see that Sutpen was not a gentleman, and in fact never was. Sutpen impregnates Washes granddaughter, but this is not the occurrence that astounds Wash. In fact he sees this as a possible way of improving his stature in society. It is not until the ending of the story that Wash finds out that Sutpen is not "different," but was in fact "ara other man" (Wash 541). This illumination of the character of Sutpen helps illustrate the idea that the Civil War did more to expose the fallacies and flaws in the southern chivalric attitude than actually transform it.
