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As the local preacher, Whitfield has a reputation for being morally upstanding and a symbol of goodness in his community. Cora Tull in particular emphasizes his piety, looking up to him as a source of inspiration for her own spiritual journey. Faulkner reveals that this status, however, is completely inauthentic by including two short sections from the perspectives of Addie and Whitfield, respectively. Midway through the novel, Addie explains that Jewel is not Anse’s son but rather the product of a sinful and secret affair. Whitfield goes on to admit to the reader that he was the unnamed man who met her in the woods all those years ago, and he vows to tell Anse the truth about the affair before Addie dies. Including this complication in the novel emphasizes the dissonance between appearances and reality, sheds light on Jewel’s relationship with the rest of the Bundren family, and invites questions about religious authority.
Even more important than Whitfield’s resolve to tell Anse about his affair with Addie, however, is the fact that he fails to do so and has absolutely no remorse about that failure. When he learns that Addie died before he made it to the Bundren house, he decides that his intention to confess is enough to absolve himself in the eyes of God. This choice suggests that Whitfield, like many of the novel’s other characters, prioritizes his own, selfish goals over justice or morality. Religion becomes a tool that he uses to convince himself that his behavior is forgivable, and he ironically manages to retain his venerated social status as a result of his disregard for genuinely earning God’s mercy. While Faulkner explores religion in a variety of ways throughout the novel, Whitfield’s character serves as a harsh critique of religion as a public institution, suggesting that its figureheads may not be as pure and holy as they appear. Whitfield’s continued luck, such as his ability to cross the river with relative ease, also hints at the unfairness of divine law.
