That's a Wrap

Finally finished with The Sound and the Fury and I have some closing thoughts. First of all, I am so grateful, that Faulkner left us with a closing chapter by Dilsey. I don't know if it was just me, but Dilsey was one of my favorite characters in the entire novel. I even wrote about her in comparison to Miss Caroline in my final essay. Anyways, I don't know if it is because all the other narrators were pretty mentally unstable, (not that Benjy could control it), and if that made Dilsey seem like she really knew what she was doing, but she was such a great narrator. The last chapter is outside looking in, as opposed to inside looking out. With all the other narrators, the story was warped to fit into their distorted perspectives on what was actually going on. Some would call it, racist or sexist of Faulkner to put Dilsey's chapter last, but this is a very shallow interpretation, very much unlike Faulkner as we can already tell. Dilsey's chapter placement was crucial to the entire meaning of the story! After all the bits and pieces and biased accounts by the three brothers, Dilsey brought in a sense of clarity and reality to the book. If Dilsey's chapter was placed first, the entire meaning of the novel would be destroyed. I know what you are thinking, but let me clarify. The narration's of three boys let us see inside their minds and the ways that their brains worked differently. We could see their attitudes and personalities, but most importantly the way that they each individually contributed to the Compson family downfall. The reader was put in their position and watch them fall apart, especially in the case of Quentin and Jason. With Quentin, we could see how possessed he was with this Southern facade of a sophisticated lady. Both his obsession and ignorance with time, allowed the reader to see what was really driving him to kill himself. Of course, since Faulkner's writing is so brilliantly thorough and deep, you have to take a step back after reading each chapter and really think about what was going on inside each of these brothers' minds. With Quentin, he couldn't move with the changing times! He couldn't except his sister's breakthrough and independence! He wasn't actually judging and condemning her the way that Jason was. He was just so confused because he just couldn't get rid of this idea of how women are supposed to be. It was all that he knew. Quentin's disappointment and actions in regard to Caddy, were only to protect her. He loved his sister so much that he couldn't see her move forward. This inability to let go of the past, and to try and work with modern times to see the benefit of change WAS the entire reason for the family's downfall!

This is why I find Faulkner's writing so fascinating. The way that he created the story was nothing like I had ever seen before. Honestly, to the unsophisticated literary eye, the story may seem as nothing of importance, because of it's slow pace. But, as a student studying it out, I can totally see why this novel was a classic. The interwoven meaning is so incredible, and more incredible is the way that Faulkner uses the minds of all his characters to say what he intended to say.

Another thing that I loved about The Sound and the Fury, was the feminist aspect. Caddy was the character that I really liked. Dilsey also because of her strength, level headedness, and independence, but Caddy was by far the best. Caddy was the most criticized character in the story by far. In fact, everyone in the story was so convinced that Caddy was the reason for the family falling apart. I have to admit, that she added to it significantly. Her rebellion against the family values took everybody out of line and caused quite the havoc. However, Caddy rebelling so early on in the novel, actually demonstrated her intelligence and maturity. Caddy was able to recognize the facade that her family was living in, and decided that it was not the life that she wanted. She is portrayed as such a slut, but this is only compared to the high standards that she was held to. Who knows if Caddy even slept with as many people as she says in the novel, she could just be saying that to prevent her family from trying to reel her back in. Having her family see her as a lost cause, was the only way that she could break out and be her own independent person.

All in all, I think that the literary technique and character development of Faulkner is astonishing. But most of all, the way that he expressed his personal beliefs and shared them through is characters, shows what a genius he actually was.

Jason

The next narrator of the book is Jason. His mother refers to him as a blessing and her only good child. Maybe this is the source of Jason's pride, because it is enormous. Jason's entire character is selfish, arrogant, rude, abusive and greedy. By far Jason is my least favorite character in the book. 

Jason's selfishness is apparent through the way that he bullys his family members. He will take anything from anyone regardless for who they are and what they have. The most apparent occurrence of this is when Jason scams Caddy into giving him money to see Quentin and then forbids her from actually seeing her. Jason is arrogant because he honestly thinks that he is the best and knows everything. He makes fun of literally everybody that comes into the chapter, looking down on them for everything that they do. He thinks he is the best around and everybody else is inferior. Jason has no sense of manors or respect for anyone, not even his mother. Which is why it still amazes me to see why he is her favorite. Jason is just plain rude because he will never have anything positive to say or think. He is overly focused on himself and his a huge narcissist. Nobody else in the world matters except for him, everybody else is doing somethjng wrong, especially women. We had an example last chapter of Quentin being the old south and disapproving of Caddy sleeping around, but he still had an incredible respect for women. But Jason, disapproves women doing anything for themselves which is represented through his treatment of Quentin, his mistress, Dilsey and his mother. But most of all, Jason is greedy. He will do whatever it takes  get just a little bit of money, except work for it. E steals from numerous people with no remorse. 

Quentin's Chapter

When I found out that the next narrator of the Sound and the Fury, Quentin, was not mentally disabled, I was actually pretty relieved. Except once I finally started the chapter, I realized that although Quentin's perspective was more direct and clear than Benjy's,  it was still confusing. The writing that was italicized was easier to understand. But, like Benjy, Quentin often switches time periods triggered by smell and memories. However, unlike Benjy, Quentin doesn't split up his memories and changes in time period distinctively. For example in Benjy's chapter, I could honestly highlight and distinguish the different time periods with a highlighter and they had specific dates.  But in Quentin's chapter, his memories were all strung together and didn't have a clear time period. Quentin's sense of I is very muddled. His entire sense of self is based of him trying to reel back Caddy into his idea of the Southern chivalry. Quentin seem's to be so obsessed with Southern honor, that the fact that Caddy is sleeping around is so horrible to him. His entire sense of self is based around his connection to Southern Chivalry. He is willing to tell his father that Caddy's child is out of incest, than for Jason to find out that Caddy's baby was out of sex before marriage This all relate's to Quentin's obsession with time.


It all starts with his grandfather's watch and the beginning of the chapter. He's always looking at it and it seems to haunt him. Then he breaks it, then feels compelled to fix it. He also refuses to know the actual time of day, especially when he goes into the clock store and won't let the man tell him the time. Quentin's obsession with time roots all the way back to when his father told him, that things lose their importance with long period's of time. As I stated above, the Old South plays such a major role in Quentin's life, that it affects every single aspect of his thinking. Quentin can't handle the fact that men talk about women like trash, for example, when he punches that one man in the face for talking awfully about women, and he asks him the question, You ever had a sister? Quentin's sense of time relates to his strong position on treatment of women. The Old South holds up a southern lady as a women of purity, innocence and something to be honored. This is why Quentin see's all women as somebody's sister and not an object to be stepped on and kicked to the dirt. This is the reason that Quentin has such a problem with Caddy's excessive sleeping around. He wants her to respect herself as a southern lady and as his sister. Quentin is stuck in the past. Not based on personal experience like Benjy, but stuck in Southern values.


This reflects Quentin's obsession with time and his Father's saying. Quentin is so obsessed with the honor of the Old South that he represents it in the novel. The South was changing. just like Caddy, and women had freedom and were escaping this strict code of honor. So, when Quentin, kills himself, it is pretty much symbolizing the transition between the death of the Old South and the new modern values moving in to the South.

Benjy- Our opening narrator

First, I am going to start off this post by introducing the character of Benjy. Benjy is the first narrator that Faulkner used to open up the novel. Benjy is a mentally handicapped man living in the Compson household. Benjy serves as a character at the very bottom of the social ladder in his family and even in the black servant family that assists him. Almost everybody in the family, and in the society, uses Benjy as a target. Benjy's pretentious mother is too concerned with herself to defend Benjy from all the bullying, and even is a main contributor, telling Benjy that he is a judgement on her. The black servant family is especially cruel to Benjy. They see his mental handicap as something that puts Benjy all the way at the bottom of the social ladder, giving them a chance to bully him and treat him like dirt. Because the time period is post civil war in the South, there was a lot of resentment between the blacks and the whites, and the servants seemed to take out there resentment on Benjy. The only person that puts Benjy under their wing is Caddy. Caddy is Benjy's sister. Benjy absolutely adores Caddy and becomes very upset when he see's her maturing. 

So the main question is, Why would Faulkner use Benjy as the first narrator in his novel? Well, being mentally disabled and always shut up behind the gate, Benji see's a lot that goes on inside the Compson household. His disability also gives him a purity and innocence that all the other characters seem to lack. He is even set up by Faulkner as a Christ figure because he was thirty three around Easter. Not only that, but Benjy seems to take the heat for a lot of the suffering and evil doings of those in his family, as Jesus did our sins. Except Benji is a symbol of doom and downfall for the family, because they changed is name and his mental retardation. Everyone thinks that they can just lash out everything they've been feeling onto Benji because they see him as such an inferior. Benjy's position 

allows the reader to see the true personalities and inner feelings of the other characters, based on the way that they treat him. Their treatment of Benji at the beginning of the novel dictates whether or not the reader will like or dislike a character. 

Benjy's section is also very disoriented. There is constant switching to multiple time periods. Faulkner does this to show an accurate depiction of Benjy's mind and his innocence. It also shows Benjy's true personality and thoughts. If Faulkner were to chronologically go through the time periods during Benjy's chapter, it would innacuratley portray Benjy's character.

 Also Benjy's innocence allows him to tell a completely bias free depiction of the family and all of his brothers. Benjy's sense of nostalgia is very interesting. He is obsessed with the past but not necessarily because he longs for it. Since he has no sense of time due to his mental illness, any smell could send him into another time period. Also with the unchanging values and character of the South, the time that the events occur don't really matter regarding the novel. Benjy's way of telling the story is through connections of thoughts to different time periods and events that occurred. Also, Benjy uses his sense of smell to show seasons and change. Benjy's narration was very interesting and a perfect starting point of view to the novel. 

Reflection on my research on Faulkner

Faulkner has a very interesting background story and personality that make him unique and distinguished from any other critically acclaimed novelist. 

The main aspect of Faulkner's personality that really stuck out to me was his lack of self confidence. One would assume that Faulkner would have some sort of pride in his writing due to the fact that he had worked with the movie industry regarding his novels and had won the most profound award in literature, the Nobel prize. However, after doing some research and reading the articles, it became apparent that Faulkner was either a really humble guy, or he thought extremely low of himself. He called himself a failure on a number of occasions and even considers some of his greatest works as failures as well.

 It has also been reported that Faulkner may have had a drinking problem that could be rooted in some sort of depression. It's unknown how exaggerated this story is, because Faulkner's life story seems to be exaggerated in general. For example his experiences of service in the Canadian Air Force has been stretched and twisted into many different stories that may or may not have happened. But, being the storyteller that Faulkner is, he allows it to happen, even telling some stories of his own. 

Faulkner's incredible writing had earned him a title of extreme intelligence. Faulkner's beautifully romantic writing style has drawn in so many readers and critics to his work. However, Faulkner's intelligence is even more significant because of his lack of formal education. Without a high school degree or college diploma, Faulkner became one of the greatest writers of all time. Faulkner's intelligence and wit was shown even as a young child, when he would get the other children to things for him in exchange for stories.

 I find this so fascinating that even without education on literature or anything else, that Faulkner was able to accomplish everything that he did. I believe that he must have a truly incredible mind to be as critically acclaimed as he is. I am very excited to read The Sound and the Fury and to take a look inside Faulkner's mind and see for myself what the Nobel Prize of Literature winning author has to say through his novel.