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.