Sanctuary

William Faulkner's Sanctuary is a strong and controversial novel that came out in 1931. The story takes place in Faulkner's made-up county of Yoknapatawpha, Mississippi, during Prohibition. It's about how bad people connected to bootlegger Lee Goodwin abduct and rape an upper-class college girl named Temple Drake. The book shows how this sad event set off a complicated chain of events. The story is told from Horace Benbow's point of view. He is a disillusioned lawyer who goes back to his city, Jefferson. He helps defend Goodwin, who is being accused of a crime he did not commit. Temple's life takes a bad turn when she ends up living in a brothel in Memphis run by the violent and powerless Popeye. The story explores themes of corruption, sexual abuse, and the dark side of society during a troubled time. Faulkner does a superb job of looking at how people's actions affect them and how hard it is to be forgiven, while also showing the harsh facts of a society that struggles with morals and justice. Sanctuary was a turning point in Faulkner's career. It was both popular and well-received by critics, even though he said it was a potboiler written to make money. The book is still a powerful and frightening look at the worst parts of human nature.