Dilsey's Chapter
When concluding this book, I was more captivated than I have been by many of the other books we read this past year. Furthermore, I found this chapter to be perhaps my favorite of the four, though Benjy's comes close. I may have been drawn to this chapter for its clarity and finality.
The scene that opens "Dilsey's section" brings images of death as Disley wears odd colors for an Easter morning. The kitchen is related to have a clock that is both "solemn and profound". This connects to Faulkner's statements that time is not a friend of those living in the past. The day is also cold, setting a dark climate on what should be a happy day. The date is significant, as the setting ironically brings a dark contrast to Easter joy giving weight to Dilsey's predications of doom. The blindness that occurs on this day's light shows a real profound loss and doom, more so than another day would. The hopelessness and sin are more striking.
The sins of this day are connected to Quentin and Jason, as Quentin steals and runs off, while Jason holds profound hatred and hopes to harm Quentin. Even Luster is crueler than normal to Benjy when he mocks him about Caddy. As the characters' sins occur on the day of redemption, they becomes deeper and less reversible. The family is doomed. And hopeless. The lack of hope is described by "Ben", who to many, has seen another name change. He is associated with honeysuckles, that were said to be a sad smell, and he shows hopelessness.
However, what was more striking than the foreshadowing and creation of their doom and darkness on the brightest day of the year, is the completion of the crescendo. The final page of the book was so capturing. The statue of the Confederate soldier sets a tone that connects to tradition. Directly after this connection Benjy losses it, in horror, and takes more action than he has ever before. He makes a last stand and is struck. His flower breaks as he does. The work concludes with "The broken flower drooped over Ben's fist and his eyes were empty and blue and serene again as cornice and facade flowed smoothly once more from the left to the right, post and tree, window and doorway and signpost each in its ordered place." This scene and line conclude and reveal so much. Benjy's flower is broken, with the Old South, in front of the Confederate soldier. Benjy, and the South, hide in a facade. Everything is crushed and wrong, but looks perfect.
They are in a dead denial.
Thinking Back
The Chapters
Falkner's work progressively becomes easier to understand. This shows a coming together of everything, and a progression to the final end. Everything starts to makes sense with Jason. Jason is a failed tradition THAT MAKES SENSE. He shows us that tradition will die, and that it is found in progressive simplicity.
The narration style begins us with an unbiased reflection that focuses on the innocences of past values. Nothing has gone horribly wrong in Benjy's chapter, though it leads to everything. We face confusion as we try to clear up what is coming. Then we get everything and nothing with Quentin. He gives us a mess. This mess is that of an obsession with a lost past, and it convinces us that nothing can go back to the way it was. I mean, Quentin is dead. There cannot be happy past anymore. Jason is refreshing, and we focus on him as he shows us failure. His chapter is focused to show us that the past is gone. He has failed at his job, and is cruel. He can't stand successfully with the old ideals but tries to. He even harms their representation, Benjy.
Only now are we prepared for as normal as Faulkner can get- the traditional 3rd person narrator. This narrator is a little apart from the events and can therefore best explain death, doom and the end.
What It All Means
When considering the work as a whole, we need to look at its essence and most complete representation: the title.
The title of the work comes from Shakespeare's Macbeth, after Macbeth learns that his mother is dead. He exclaims:
"To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing."
Now, I find that this quote optimizes the story's meaning at its fullest. It sums up everything. First it shows that tomorrow is creeping up. This is change: the change seen in Caddy and Quentin. This is the change that occurred when tradition died in the Benjy's last struggle. This is the result of Jason's failures, and what was promised by Disley early on. All there is now is the "way to dusty death", and an end to tradition. Life is meaningless, and cannot be connected to. This is seen in the broken stem, Quentin's suicide, and the impotency of so many of the characters: Quentin, Mrs. Compson, a drunk Uncle Maury, Jason and Benjy. The only thing remaining is a story "told by an idiot". Faulkner is saying that the only remnant of the past is a story, and an incomprehensible one at that. It is all wind and anger, with no action.
This is why Benjy opens the book. He show impotency. Quentin is incomprehensible, and Jason can do nothing, but hates so much. Finally an "outsider" finishes. It takes four tries to tell the story, which illustrates the magnitude of emptiness, which is all "sound a fury". No initiative. It is a complex nothingness. The narrators have no power. Yet, having four narrators also shows progression and direction. Many are involved, and the story of nothing moves and continues.
Faulkner is relating an end, informing readers that the only hope is in the characters we love, who, not coincidentally, are the future. The past is all just "sound a fury", to be set aside.
Monday, April 20, 2015
Sunday, April 19, 2015
April 6, 1928 (Jason)
Jason: The Ungentle Gentleman
Jason is a jerk. To everyone.
In Jason's chapter, I am mostly just struck by how inhuman Jason really is. Faulkner creates a loathsome character in Jason who is cruel enough to destroy Benjy's paper dolls even when Jason is still small. He is supposedly his mother's salvation and dream come true becoming the new man of the house. Yet, he does a terrible job at it. His mother consistently apologizes for being a burden to him, while she complains of other's burdens. However, even she sees rudeness in Jason as she tells Jason that "You say things like that to hurt me", when he was comparing his life to that of his brother's. She also notices that he makes Quentin's life harder than it needs to be, as asks him to be more kind to her. Jason just uses his work to make an excuse for not reaching out to Quentin.
Just like Jason's mother, Quentin sees much evil in in Jason and at one point of frustration simply asks why. She is confused, as asks her Grandma, "Why does he treat me like this, Grandmother?... I never hurt him". Jason is very passive aggressive and makes up a story that he lent his car to someone who was chasing his sister's husband who was out with another woman, when Jason himself was really following Quentin. Quentin realizes that he knew what she had been doing but Jason lords it over her making that knowledge worse. Quentin even blames him for making her the way she is. She gives him the sole responsibility of her actions, screaming, "Whatever I do, it's your fault... If I'm bad, it's because I had to be. You made me. I wish I were dead". Jason also denies Quentin needed money that Caddy sends her, only to use it but pretend he is suffering monetarily to create a show for his mother. He even threatens to whip Quentin, as he does with the servants. Due to this, Quentin may have really chosen the life she takes to escape from his inflictions.
Jason is similarly rude to the servants and those under him. He offers Luster tickets to a show Luster longs for, only then to demand a price Luster cannot meet. He then destroys the ticket in front of Luster's eyes. He is violent towards Dilsey who is only kind and helpful, and he is lashes out against those who bring him bank reports that are only a few hour late, when the tardiness was caused by Jason's unknown whereabouts. Jason additionally verbally abuses both minorities and women. He has strong prejudice against Jews, and does not hide it though he claims to not hate Jews for their religion or as individuals. Furthermore, he repeatedly states that "once a bitch, always a bitch", and he uses this statement in regard to more than one woman.
Jason feels no piety for a mother's sorrows either. When Caddy simply asks to see her daughter, Jason needs to be bribed, and then raises those bribes. He does very little to help her, and then does even less for her daughter, who was entrusted to him.
Why?
Overall, it cannot be questioned that Jason is barbaric. The question I found myself asking is why does Faulkner make him so horrible, and yet the most easy to understand. This may be because he is making a statement on the terror of holding on to what should pass. Jason is the last head of a dying house. Caddy is gone. Quentin is died. Benjy is ignored. Jason (the elder) is died. Uncle Maury drinks himself into oblivion. And a mother hides from reality in a self-oriented world.
There is nothing but a fortune to loss, a sister to steal from, and an 'adopted' daughter- Quentin- to ignore. There is nothing left and the family is doomed. Jason could simply be that coming destruction, symbolizing a disastrous end that harms the future, freedom and past. This is seen as he hurts and ignores Quentin and Caddy, who represent a youthful freedom and the future, in addition to abusing the past seen in Benjy and his own mother. He is a mess of evil lies and actions, but under that, he is just a human. He is clear because of this. Thus, he section is both clear and painful.
Jason is a jerk. To everyone.
In Jason's chapter, I am mostly just struck by how inhuman Jason really is. Faulkner creates a loathsome character in Jason who is cruel enough to destroy Benjy's paper dolls even when Jason is still small. He is supposedly his mother's salvation and dream come true becoming the new man of the house. Yet, he does a terrible job at it. His mother consistently apologizes for being a burden to him, while she complains of other's burdens. However, even she sees rudeness in Jason as she tells Jason that "You say things like that to hurt me", when he was comparing his life to that of his brother's. She also notices that he makes Quentin's life harder than it needs to be, as asks him to be more kind to her. Jason just uses his work to make an excuse for not reaching out to Quentin.
Just like Jason's mother, Quentin sees much evil in in Jason and at one point of frustration simply asks why. She is confused, as asks her Grandma, "Why does he treat me like this, Grandmother?... I never hurt him". Jason is very passive aggressive and makes up a story that he lent his car to someone who was chasing his sister's husband who was out with another woman, when Jason himself was really following Quentin. Quentin realizes that he knew what she had been doing but Jason lords it over her making that knowledge worse. Quentin even blames him for making her the way she is. She gives him the sole responsibility of her actions, screaming, "Whatever I do, it's your fault... If I'm bad, it's because I had to be. You made me. I wish I were dead". Jason also denies Quentin needed money that Caddy sends her, only to use it but pretend he is suffering monetarily to create a show for his mother. He even threatens to whip Quentin, as he does with the servants. Due to this, Quentin may have really chosen the life she takes to escape from his inflictions.
Jason is similarly rude to the servants and those under him. He offers Luster tickets to a show Luster longs for, only then to demand a price Luster cannot meet. He then destroys the ticket in front of Luster's eyes. He is violent towards Dilsey who is only kind and helpful, and he is lashes out against those who bring him bank reports that are only a few hour late, when the tardiness was caused by Jason's unknown whereabouts. Jason additionally verbally abuses both minorities and women. He has strong prejudice against Jews, and does not hide it though he claims to not hate Jews for their religion or as individuals. Furthermore, he repeatedly states that "once a bitch, always a bitch", and he uses this statement in regard to more than one woman.
Jason feels no piety for a mother's sorrows either. When Caddy simply asks to see her daughter, Jason needs to be bribed, and then raises those bribes. He does very little to help her, and then does even less for her daughter, who was entrusted to him.
Why?
Overall, it cannot be questioned that Jason is barbaric. The question I found myself asking is why does Faulkner make him so horrible, and yet the most easy to understand. This may be because he is making a statement on the terror of holding on to what should pass. Jason is the last head of a dying house. Caddy is gone. Quentin is died. Benjy is ignored. Jason (the elder) is died. Uncle Maury drinks himself into oblivion. And a mother hides from reality in a self-oriented world.
There is nothing but a fortune to loss, a sister to steal from, and an 'adopted' daughter- Quentin- to ignore. There is nothing left and the family is doomed. Jason could simply be that coming destruction, symbolizing a disastrous end that harms the future, freedom and past. This is seen as he hurts and ignores Quentin and Caddy, who represent a youthful freedom and the future, in addition to abusing the past seen in Benjy and his own mother. He is a mess of evil lies and actions, but under that, he is just a human. He is clear because of this. Thus, he section is both clear and painful.
Sunday, April 12, 2015
June Second, 1910 (Quentin)
Who Quentin Is
Quentin is expected bring good light to his family's name. He should be on his way to becoming the nest Compson patriarch. He is a mother's second chance at the "dream child", as Benjy is his mother's "punishment" and Caddy gives up the symbol of her worth. Yet, he is in his own words, "Not a gentlemen". He dislikes the traditional family values, and his education is bought by the loss of both his brother's beloved Pasture and family wealth. He is overly concerned with time and shadow, as many sentences of his chapter, including the first incorporate both of these elements. This is seen in the phrase, "trampling my shadow's bones into the concrete and then I was hearing the watch". He is seen to belief that "purity is a negative state and therefore contrary to nature", and he seems to have little love for the symbol of pure innocence, Benjy. Yet, at the same time he is so concerned about honor and virtue, and is at a loss when Caddy losses her virtue signaling doom. Caddy's actions provide the context in which we are told that "there is a curse on [the Compsons]", and they bring Quentin to tell his father that he, and not Dalton Ames, is the father to Quentin. Moreover, her decisions lead to his loss of life. The hopeful leader is crippled, conflicted, and consumed.
Quentin is haunted. He cannot escape the memory of Benjy's realization that Caddy has changed, or time and shadow, nor his sister's loss of virtue. He strives to break the clock and would take the blame for Caddy if he could. He cannot, and gives everything up.
Quentin Speech
Quentin's confusion and loss are seen in his narration style. He minds change location and he sometimes speaks as if he is not himself. He does not clearly differentiate phrases that he says as opposed to those he hears. He is a mess of thoughts and words, many of which are not his own. He does not hold a strong sense of himself, and changes the common applications of a first person narrator. His narration is additionally confounding because he includes so many phrases, both that are his and others, and he thinks in fragments. He tells stories in segments and sees the world in a particular tinted light, which complicates a reader's life as they are used to following one complete strand. Faulkner even chooses to stop with normal capitalization rules to illustrate Quentin's misplacements. This shows how convoluted he is in himself. He has varying ideals he struggles to hold to, as both an enemy and an upholder of tradition. He is confused and lost in who he should be and what he finds to be important. He is challenged by his perceived morals, which drive him both to "help" a poor girl leading to his arrest and to fighting for what he sees to be a valiant cause. He is eventually driven to simply give up. The complications he faces from his homeland, family, mentality and environment form a current of confusion and clarity he cannot sort through, though he tries. He is lost in time and shadow, and his streaming narration style expresses this. His narration's instability and brokenness shows his unstable and broken body, mind and spirit. He loses his will when he sees that Caddy has lost herself. He loses his health when he is bloodied in a fight to uphold what he sees as good. What he doesn't realize is that many of his actions too similar to those of the man who leaves him dressed in blood. He loses is mind in a attempt to hold to what he sees as necessary and right in a changing surrounding. He sees all of his losses, particularly that of family honor, as overwhelming, which mirrors his narration. His observations of compacting pressure finalize into his end.
Quentin is expected bring good light to his family's name. He should be on his way to becoming the nest Compson patriarch. He is a mother's second chance at the "dream child", as Benjy is his mother's "punishment" and Caddy gives up the symbol of her worth. Yet, he is in his own words, "Not a gentlemen". He dislikes the traditional family values, and his education is bought by the loss of both his brother's beloved Pasture and family wealth. He is overly concerned with time and shadow, as many sentences of his chapter, including the first incorporate both of these elements. This is seen in the phrase, "trampling my shadow's bones into the concrete and then I was hearing the watch". He is seen to belief that "purity is a negative state and therefore contrary to nature", and he seems to have little love for the symbol of pure innocence, Benjy. Yet, at the same time he is so concerned about honor and virtue, and is at a loss when Caddy losses her virtue signaling doom. Caddy's actions provide the context in which we are told that "there is a curse on [the Compsons]", and they bring Quentin to tell his father that he, and not Dalton Ames, is the father to Quentin. Moreover, her decisions lead to his loss of life. The hopeful leader is crippled, conflicted, and consumed.
Quentin is haunted. He cannot escape the memory of Benjy's realization that Caddy has changed, or time and shadow, nor his sister's loss of virtue. He strives to break the clock and would take the blame for Caddy if he could. He cannot, and gives everything up.
Quentin Speech
Quentin's confusion and loss are seen in his narration style. He minds change location and he sometimes speaks as if he is not himself. He does not clearly differentiate phrases that he says as opposed to those he hears. He is a mess of thoughts and words, many of which are not his own. He does not hold a strong sense of himself, and changes the common applications of a first person narrator. His narration is additionally confounding because he includes so many phrases, both that are his and others, and he thinks in fragments. He tells stories in segments and sees the world in a particular tinted light, which complicates a reader's life as they are used to following one complete strand. Faulkner even chooses to stop with normal capitalization rules to illustrate Quentin's misplacements. This shows how convoluted he is in himself. He has varying ideals he struggles to hold to, as both an enemy and an upholder of tradition. He is confused and lost in who he should be and what he finds to be important. He is challenged by his perceived morals, which drive him both to "help" a poor girl leading to his arrest and to fighting for what he sees to be a valiant cause. He is eventually driven to simply give up. The complications he faces from his homeland, family, mentality and environment form a current of confusion and clarity he cannot sort through, though he tries. He is lost in time and shadow, and his streaming narration style expresses this. His narration's instability and brokenness shows his unstable and broken body, mind and spirit. He loses his will when he sees that Caddy has lost herself. He loses his health when he is bloodied in a fight to uphold what he sees as good. What he doesn't realize is that many of his actions too similar to those of the man who leaves him dressed in blood. He loses is mind in a attempt to hold to what he sees as necessary and right in a changing surrounding. He sees all of his losses, particularly that of family honor, as overwhelming, which mirrors his narration. His observations of compacting pressure finalize into his end.
Monday, March 30, 2015
April Seventh, 1928 (Benjy)
Why Benjy?
Faulkner opens his book with Benjy's disorienting perspective to show that time is not important to the sections he introduces. His thoughts show that feelings and content should be emphasized, not small details and chronological instances. Benjy's thoughts run through connections, and are more simple and innocent than others'. This makes him able to give a truthful, untainted account of the family, with pure observation and no biases, which cannot be done by a different narrator. Additionally, Benjy is a narrator of feeling, and he expresses understandings of change and emotion better than a "normal" narrator would. He has very attuned senses which enable him to show what is happening in his world with Caddy's life changes better than one of his brothers would. He is the first to know she is changing. He is closer to Caddy than any of the other characters and thus he is the best to begin relating her story.
Benjy's Place
Benjy plays the role of the innocent victim in the Compson family. He is incapable of harm, though girls run from him when he waits at the gate. He has suffered greatly: first the loss of a name, and then of his sister, who is the only one who truly loves him. He is set up as a Christ-figure, given his age and the time of the story, which ironically, he is oblivious to. Benjy signifies purity and suffering, in a way which is very similar to that of Christ. His life- in this case, the joy and meaning he finds when he is with Caddy- is taken from him, which is not his own doing. He is a sacrifice, as Jesus was. His parents, particularly his mother, are willing to sacrifice love, and even the knowledge of him, to salvage the family's name. His mother commonly says that Benjy is a plague, a sickness and a worry on her and her name, as shown by her compliant about Benjy's cries, "Can't I even be sick in peace". She changes his name so he would not be considered with her "pure" brother, which mocks the concept of goodness, as it is Benjy who is truth good and innocent, like Christ. Few accept him, he is sacrificed for worldly gain, and he is pushed aside though he has great truths, just like Christ.
What Benjy Shows Us
Benjy's narrative gives us a look at how Benjy, and those who are different are seen, are treated. He is scorned, which shows us how much the Compsons would give up for appearances. He shows us that the family is deep-set in following what it perceives to be the norms. He also shows us that the family is falling from its traditional standings, which he himself does not actually grasp. He illustrates that what was once family's land (the Pasture) has become a golf course. This shows us that the family is poor enough that it needs to sell land. He also relates Roskus's quote that tells of coming doom, "Taint no luck in this place". The family's failing struggle to hold on to dying values is seen in the South as a whole, as it too is fighting against changing times. Benjy himself cannot sense time, but he can show how it affects those around him. Benjy, just like everyone in the work so far, admires the past, and hates the change that comes to him. His need for constituency shows us that both the times around him and his family are changing negatively. The traditional family, and the South, are passing into hardship.
Benjy questions time and epitomizes innocence and sacrifice.
Faulkner opens his book with Benjy's disorienting perspective to show that time is not important to the sections he introduces. His thoughts show that feelings and content should be emphasized, not small details and chronological instances. Benjy's thoughts run through connections, and are more simple and innocent than others'. This makes him able to give a truthful, untainted account of the family, with pure observation and no biases, which cannot be done by a different narrator. Additionally, Benjy is a narrator of feeling, and he expresses understandings of change and emotion better than a "normal" narrator would. He has very attuned senses which enable him to show what is happening in his world with Caddy's life changes better than one of his brothers would. He is the first to know she is changing. He is closer to Caddy than any of the other characters and thus he is the best to begin relating her story.
Benjy's Place
Benjy plays the role of the innocent victim in the Compson family. He is incapable of harm, though girls run from him when he waits at the gate. He has suffered greatly: first the loss of a name, and then of his sister, who is the only one who truly loves him. He is set up as a Christ-figure, given his age and the time of the story, which ironically, he is oblivious to. Benjy signifies purity and suffering, in a way which is very similar to that of Christ. His life- in this case, the joy and meaning he finds when he is with Caddy- is taken from him, which is not his own doing. He is a sacrifice, as Jesus was. His parents, particularly his mother, are willing to sacrifice love, and even the knowledge of him, to salvage the family's name. His mother commonly says that Benjy is a plague, a sickness and a worry on her and her name, as shown by her compliant about Benjy's cries, "Can't I even be sick in peace". She changes his name so he would not be considered with her "pure" brother, which mocks the concept of goodness, as it is Benjy who is truth good and innocent, like Christ. Few accept him, he is sacrificed for worldly gain, and he is pushed aside though he has great truths, just like Christ.
What Benjy Shows Us
Benjy's narrative gives us a look at how Benjy, and those who are different are seen, are treated. He is scorned, which shows us how much the Compsons would give up for appearances. He shows us that the family is deep-set in following what it perceives to be the norms. He also shows us that the family is falling from its traditional standings, which he himself does not actually grasp. He illustrates that what was once family's land (the Pasture) has become a golf course. This shows us that the family is poor enough that it needs to sell land. He also relates Roskus's quote that tells of coming doom, "Taint no luck in this place". The family's failing struggle to hold on to dying values is seen in the South as a whole, as it too is fighting against changing times. Benjy himself cannot sense time, but he can show how it affects those around him. Benjy, just like everyone in the work so far, admires the past, and hates the change that comes to him. His need for constituency shows us that both the times around him and his family are changing negatively. The traditional family, and the South, are passing into hardship.
Benjy questions time and epitomizes innocence and sacrifice.
Wednesday, March 25, 2015
Overall Observations
Time
Time changes to relate the story and emphasize order. Quentin tells us the story of the past, as does Benjy, though Benjy similarly tells us of the present and varying times of the past.
Quentin obsesses about time, and breaks several watches in a search for actuality and meaning.
Clocks are shown to be solemn and sad in the final chapter.
Form
Faulkner notates questions without question marks. For example Caddy asks, ""What is it."... " What are you trying to tell Caddy."" He also refrains from normal capitalization in the end of his second chapter to show Quentin's confusion and disorder.
Benjy's thoughts are structured on what is related. This is seen as thoughts of fire, for example are connected regardless of time. Lines such as "she smelled like trees" are used as transitions.
By switching narrators Faulkner creates development.
Point of View
By making Benjy the opening narrator, Faulkner makes points on time, bias, and other essential elements (see the post on Benjy's section), but it also places major restrictions on him as a writer that have to be considered.
A final third person narrator shows a clearer view, but also one slightly separate form what is unfolding.
Character
Caddy:
- Benjy interestingly observes that Caddy appears as a "light in darkness". This line appears more poetic than the rest of his section
- "Caddie" is mistaking for "Caddy". Both are guides.
- Wants to "carry" Benjy ("I can carry him"), even when she is small and relatively weaker.
Benjy:
- Sees people as going into separate places, when they are visible from a mirror. This is shown as he says they were "fighting in the mirror".
- People appear to think that Benjy cannot understand anything simply because he cannot speak (with the exception some, prominently Caddy). This is shown because Luster says he is "deaf and dumb".
- He follows after the girls who walk by the fence, even though he knows they are not Caddy.
- Has a "graveyard" with flowers that he tends for. This raises the question of who died.
- Likes fire
Quentin: (The Older)
- Clearly feels disgrace of the family, and suffers with upholding what he sees as necessary.
- Feels deep a deep love and connection to Caddy, and a lesser one to the South.
Dilsey:
- Makes a cake for Benjy out of her own resources, and is criticized for it.
- Gives up everything to raise all of the children, and only challenges authority to protect them, as she does when Jason threatens Quentin
- Projected as very solemn in the final chapter
Jason: (Caddy and Benjys' Brother)
- Projected early on to be a rich man.
- There could not be a crueler character
Quentin: (Caddy's Kid)
- Represents a freedom and the future much like her mother.
- Doesn't understand Jason's cruelty, and attributes it to making her who she is.
Time changes to relate the story and emphasize order. Quentin tells us the story of the past, as does Benjy, though Benjy similarly tells us of the present and varying times of the past.
Quentin obsesses about time, and breaks several watches in a search for actuality and meaning.
Clocks are shown to be solemn and sad in the final chapter.
Form
Faulkner notates questions without question marks. For example Caddy asks, ""What is it."... " What are you trying to tell Caddy."" He also refrains from normal capitalization in the end of his second chapter to show Quentin's confusion and disorder.
Benjy's thoughts are structured on what is related. This is seen as thoughts of fire, for example are connected regardless of time. Lines such as "she smelled like trees" are used as transitions.
By switching narrators Faulkner creates development.
Point of View
By making Benjy the opening narrator, Faulkner makes points on time, bias, and other essential elements (see the post on Benjy's section), but it also places major restrictions on him as a writer that have to be considered.
A final third person narrator shows a clearer view, but also one slightly separate form what is unfolding.
Character
Caddy:
- Benjy interestingly observes that Caddy appears as a "light in darkness". This line appears more poetic than the rest of his section
- "Caddie" is mistaking for "Caddy". Both are guides.
- Wants to "carry" Benjy ("I can carry him"), even when she is small and relatively weaker.
Benjy:
- Sees people as going into separate places, when they are visible from a mirror. This is shown as he says they were "fighting in the mirror".
- People appear to think that Benjy cannot understand anything simply because he cannot speak (with the exception some, prominently Caddy). This is shown because Luster says he is "deaf and dumb".
- He follows after the girls who walk by the fence, even though he knows they are not Caddy.
- Has a "graveyard" with flowers that he tends for. This raises the question of who died.
- Likes fire
Quentin: (The Older)
- Clearly feels disgrace of the family, and suffers with upholding what he sees as necessary.
- Feels deep a deep love and connection to Caddy, and a lesser one to the South.
Dilsey:
- Makes a cake for Benjy out of her own resources, and is criticized for it.
- Gives up everything to raise all of the children, and only challenges authority to protect them, as she does when Jason threatens Quentin
- Projected as very solemn in the final chapter
Jason: (Caddy and Benjys' Brother)
- Projected early on to be a rich man.
- There could not be a crueler character
Quentin: (Caddy's Kid)
- Represents a freedom and the future much like her mother.
- Doesn't understand Jason's cruelty, and attributes it to making her who she is.
Findings on Faulkner
I found many aspects of Faulkner's life fascinating. I was first struck by his immense humility, which is almost maddening. He stated that he is a "failed poet", and that was the only reason he took up writing novels. When speaking of his preference to The Sound and the Fury, he claims to favor it because it was his "most splendid failure". Through these quotes, he appears to be very unsure of his skills. He was additionally modest when accepting his Nobel Prize, and he was too shy to speak to James Joyce when he could have in France. This is striking because it seems that in most cases, fame corrupts. It is almost upsetting that someone so good at something claims failure, because it raises the necessary question of who we are (compared to so-called failure). Yet, this impressive humility is challenged as he insulted Hemingway and claimed to have written As I Lay Dying in a mere six weeks. These public statements challenge his actual personality.
However, much more of Faulkner's character demands attention. It is surprising that Faulkner was a poet first, and when he did write prose, he favored the Romantic style and era, though he found his passion in writing about his own times. It is similarly stunning that all of Faulkner's work was created without a college degree, or a high school diploma. His intelligence is seen as even greater when it is considered that he skipped a grade as well. One of his "weakest works", A Fable, still won him a Pulitzer, and it cannot be forgotten that he won a Nobel Prize in Literature.
Given his success and accomplishment, it is more intriguing that Faulkner seems to be a controversy in himself. He wrote both for the love of writing, and for money. He sold his writes for gain to the movie industry, but in his need, never took a stable job, and was seen to have stages of intense drunkenness. It appears that he never focused on his education, but took it in his hands to educate his niece. Even his name is questionable, as he changed its spelling from Falkner to Faulkner to make it appear more British, in a web of lies to gain entrance into the Canadian Air Force. He allowed lies and exaggerations to be told of his nonexistent actions during war, and even based a book on some of the stories he told of his service.
It may be these challenges and contradictions that made him such a good author. I am drawn to the style of his writing, because it seems so intriguingly unique. The Mississippi writers report that his writing challenges "the truths of the heart", and this is strengthened by his plot lines told by many characters, because they allow for greater analysis and interpretations. William Faulkner on the Web also explores his many Shakespearean references, which always strike me as fascinating.
After learning about Faulkner's life and rare style, I am drawn to The Sound and the Fury, and hope to discover many of the questions he saw in his own Southern lifestyle, that will appear in his character's times. Reading the summary of the plot and characters provided by William Faulkner on the Web, has sparked my interest greater and will hopefully give a chance at understanding this acclaimed and promising work.
However, much more of Faulkner's character demands attention. It is surprising that Faulkner was a poet first, and when he did write prose, he favored the Romantic style and era, though he found his passion in writing about his own times. It is similarly stunning that all of Faulkner's work was created without a college degree, or a high school diploma. His intelligence is seen as even greater when it is considered that he skipped a grade as well. One of his "weakest works", A Fable, still won him a Pulitzer, and it cannot be forgotten that he won a Nobel Prize in Literature.
Given his success and accomplishment, it is more intriguing that Faulkner seems to be a controversy in himself. He wrote both for the love of writing, and for money. He sold his writes for gain to the movie industry, but in his need, never took a stable job, and was seen to have stages of intense drunkenness. It appears that he never focused on his education, but took it in his hands to educate his niece. Even his name is questionable, as he changed its spelling from Falkner to Faulkner to make it appear more British, in a web of lies to gain entrance into the Canadian Air Force. He allowed lies and exaggerations to be told of his nonexistent actions during war, and even based a book on some of the stories he told of his service.
It may be these challenges and contradictions that made him such a good author. I am drawn to the style of his writing, because it seems so intriguingly unique. The Mississippi writers report that his writing challenges "the truths of the heart", and this is strengthened by his plot lines told by many characters, because they allow for greater analysis and interpretations. William Faulkner on the Web also explores his many Shakespearean references, which always strike me as fascinating.
After learning about Faulkner's life and rare style, I am drawn to The Sound and the Fury, and hope to discover many of the questions he saw in his own Southern lifestyle, that will appear in his character's times. Reading the summary of the plot and characters provided by William Faulkner on the Web, has sparked my interest greater and will hopefully give a chance at understanding this acclaimed and promising work.
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