Mr. Suttree it is our understanding that at curfew rightly decreed by law and in that hour wherein night draws to its proper close and the new day commences and contrary to conduct befitting a person of your station you betook yourself to various low places within the shire of McAnally and there did squander several ensuing years in the company of thieves, derelicts, miscreants, pariahs, poltroons, spalpeens, curmudgeons, clotpolls, murderers, gamblers, bawds, whores, trulls, brigands, topers, tosspots, sots and archsots, lobcocks, smellsmocks, runagates, rakes, and other assorted and felonious debauchees.I was drunk, cried Suttree.
In this excerpt from Cormac McCarthy's "Suttree," the character Mr. Suttree faces an admonishment concerning his actions during curfew hours. He's reminded that he has strayed far from the expected behavior appropriate to his social status. Instead of adhering to societal norms, he chose to immerse himself in the company of undesirable individuals and engage in a lifestyle marked by recklessness and moral decay.
Suttree's response is a simple admission of...
