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.