Unvanquished, Explained

William Faulkner's The Unvanquished is the story of Bayard Sartoris during the Civil War. However, the novel's title refers not only to Bayard but to the entire Southern population and its traditions.

Bayard Sartoris essentially fights three major battles in the novel. The first is against Ab Snopes and Grumby. Snopes and Grumby are responsible for Granny's murder and Bayard is determined to avenge her. He is only fifteen years old; Snopes and Grumby are adults, conniving and without scruples. Bayard is at a decided disadvantage in regard to craft, cunning, and experience, even with Ringo (who has a decent amount of intelligence and craft of his own, illustrated by his partnership with Granny in the mule scheme) by his side. Despite his limitations, when at last Bayard faces Snopes and Grumby he comes out victorious. He humiliates Snopes, who isn't gentlemanly enough to engage in a fair fight with Bayard. Snopes instead cowers and cries and refuses to fight Bayard. Bayard's southern gentility does not allow him to physically beat Snopes, but Bayard is victorious anyway. When he meets up with Grumby, Bayard and Ringo kill him. Grumby is a man with no scruples who has murdered Bayard's grandmother and countless other women and children. The man in all likelihood should have been able to kill both Bayard and Ringo without any problems or hesitation. Bayard kills Grumby instead and tacks his body to a barn door and his head to Granny's grave, making him the victor once again.

Bayard enters into another duel with Ben Redmond over the death of Colonel Sartoris in the last chapter of the novel. To prove he is not a coward, Bayard enters Redmond's chamber unarmed. Redmond has been up all night and is jumpy, eager to shoot. Redmond draws his gun and fires two shots at Bayard in close range. He misses both times. Redmond leaves town on the next train and according to the novel is never seen again. Bayard has won another seemingly impossible duel.

The real battle in the skirmish with Redmond however isn't really a skirmish with Redmond at all. The true battle is fought against Drusilla and the townspeople and their belief in the tradition of dueling. Bayard believes his family has killed enough; that killing the man who shot his father is unnecessary violence. Bayard feels that Redmond was provoked and that the Colonel overstepped his bounds tormenting Redmond. Drusilla is especially adamant about the fact that Bayard must kill Redmond, giving a speech as she hands over the family pistols. When she learns that Bayard does not intend to shoot Redmond at all, she goes into hysterics. Bayard succeeds in the duel in his own way, and rather than face the idea that her idea of bravery isn't the only one, Drusilla leaves the Sartoris house. She does, however, leave a sprig of verbena on Bayard's pillow in a token of farewell and a gesture to his bravery.

The Unvanquished also refers to the Southerners themselves. Although they have surrendered to the Union in the Civil War, they have not lost it.