April 8, 1928

I was a little disappointed in how the novel ended. The first three chapters had such a great build up, that I felt a little let down on how the last chapter ended, as if it left me hanging. It was told in a different way, a third person narrative. This was helpful, because it was clear to understand exactly what was going on, and like Benjy's chapter there wasn't a bias o certain characters or the Compson family as a whole. After reading the novel, there was definitely a big significance on the sequencing of the chapters. Faulkner clearly did this purposefully. To me, it was almost written as a mystery, where the first two chapters the reader is given clues about the relationships in the Compson family, and the story. However it is not till the third and fourth chapter when it all comes together, and becomes clear and fluid. It starts with someone who is mentally retarded, then its followed by someone who is suicidal and sporadic flashbacks, followed by someone who is bitter and hated yet easy to understand, lastly an unbiased third person narrative to tie it all in. It is as if all the pieces of the puzzle come in perfectly timed to form the whole picture of the Compson family.

One reason that this novel had a disappointing ending was because there wasn't a huge revel at the end of the book. The book ended in the downfall of the Compson family, in some weird way, I was hoping for the return of Caddy and some big reveal. Although Caddy herself is a strange character, I feel for her, and I like her. Whereas other characters such as Jason and Quentin disgust me at times, I want Caddy to succeed. However, it is never told what happens to Caddy or Miss Quentin. I think The Sound and the Fury was about the relationships and inner struggle within a family. Faulkner shows the structure of a southern family, the bond and the issues within the family. He covered everything from romance, marriage, and incest to hate, suicide, and a cursed family. Mrs. Compson always talked about how she was cursed, because her children were not ideal. To me this was sickening, but this contributed a big part to the family structure. Faulkner did a great job showing the interconnections within a southern family.

Looking back on the quote, "Life is a tale told by an idiot, signifying nothing" there are many ways to interpret this in accordance to the book. I feel like the first three chapters were told by 'idiots' who all had their own ideas and issues with the family. However at the end of the day when all is said and done, nothing was shown, no issues were resolved, and no member of the Compson family had changed. This is how I feel this book relates to the quote. The same relative story was told four times, with different details each time, because everyone has their own opinion. This does a great job in truly revealing personalities. To me this is done to signify how everyone has their secrets, opinions, and attitudes to tell, because everyone views things their own ways.

Jason's Chapter: April Sixth, 1928

Jason's chapter was where I found all the missing pieces to the puzzle. His narration was smooth, and easier for my mind to grasp. With that being said what a strange character Jason is. He is violent, sneaky, and uncontrollable. Reading this chapter my mind kept wondering why he acted like this. To start to understand I tried to relate Jason's situation into a present situation. I figured that Jason's outbursts happen, because he, as the oldest, had to take care of the family. From a relatively early age he had to take control of the house, and be the man of the household, after his father's death of alcoholism. This is a huge role, especially one who is not ready. Having a big family, with many family issues that had been discussed earlier in the book, he had a lot riding on him. I believe this built up resentment and bitterness, and therefore cause the outbursts, beatings, and hatred towards his family. From Jason's perspective he never was able to be reckless and free like his siblings, and had to grow up much faster than anticipated. By no means am I justifying his behavior, because Jason is crazy throughout the whole chapter, and takes his bitterness to a whole new level.

Reading the chapter I realized there is a particular built up hatred towards Miss Quentin. This all started to come together looking back into the family history. Caddy married Herbert Head. Herbert Head offered Jason a banking job. This was Jason's ideal job. However once Herbert Head found out that Miss Quieten was not his child, he divorced Caddy. Caddy was now unaccepted by the family, however Mr. Compson and Dilsey saw it was necessary to take in Miss Quentin to give her a home to be raised in. But, as I mentioned earlier, Mr. Compson died, and that left Jason in charge of Miss Quentin, and he also lost his dream job offer from Herbert Head. It seemed to me that Jason gained a lot of responsibility here, and lost what he wanted. This caused him to steal the child support money for him, to beat and hate Miss Quentin, and have bitter outbursts toward the family. There is a lot that went into Jason’s character development, especially into the back story of it. Even though there might be a slight justification as to why Jason acted as this he is still an uncontrollable, hated character.

Quentin Chapter: June 2, 1910

After reading the Benjy chapter, Quentin's way of telling the story was much different. First, unlike Benjy, Quentin was a lot more bias, and had special relationships with different characters. He is acquainted with Shreve and Spoade, but most importantly he is very connected with Caddy. He was envious when he found out Caddy was getting married and lost her virginity. I think he also=ways wanted to have a sexual relationship with Caddy. Quentin's chapter was also different than Benjy's, because he was out experiencing the world, meeting new people, and going to college. Benjy only told stories about members of the Compson family, but Quentin had stories about so many others, such as the little girl that followed him around. Quentin did not include a lot of punctuation throughout his chapter, he would be having a dialect with another character, and no quotations or other punctuation would be used. As a reader, this was difficult to follow, because it was to extremely clear who was talking, and it required very close  reading. There is also many uses of I throughout the chapter that did not just refer to Quentin himself. This also added a level of difficulty.

Quentins narration moved quickly. He would go from one location or scene to another without much introduction to follow. Also not having punctuation throughout his narration showed that his narration just flowed from one event to the next, and he was constantly thinking, which this alluded to a lack of structure in his narration. Throughout this chapter Quentin made it clear on his thoughts towards other characters. He was obviously caring about the little girl that followed him around, giving her bread, ice cream, and trying to find her a home. I think this was because this little girl reminded him of Caddy, because during this scene there were a lot of flashbacks to Caddy. Also Quentin was not fond of Gerald, who he got into a fight with when Gerald said he did not have a sister. This relating back to having Caddy as a sister again shows how much Caddy truly means to Quentin. Also, having Quentin go to Harvard was a big deal to the Compson family. They always view themselves as curse, because of all this misfortunes that happen to their family, However having a son at Harvard is not one of these misfortunes. Overall Quentin is a unique character, who has a lot of thought of incest and relationships with others.

Benjy's Chapter: April 7th,1928

After reading the first chapter, April 7, 1928 in The Sound and The Fury many things stood out. First Faulkner begins the novel with Benjy as the narrator, because his perspective on the story is told exactly how he sees it. Having him as the first narrator tells the story in an exact way, and told more factually. Benjy was innocent unlike any other character. It was clear that Benjy was the child of the household.  Everyone had to take care of him, watch out for him, and continually raise him. This was predominately shown when Benjy burnt his hand in the fire. In this scene everyone came to share their opinions on how to go about his injury and the situation as a whole. Faulkner also has a foreshadowing of religious events. Having Benjy’s age be 33, shows that Faulkner is highlighting Benjy as a religious character, and most likely corresponding Benjy with Christ. Also, as the chapter title says, this took place the Saturday before Easter. Easter is a big day for celebration, and the Saturday before is a day of uncertainty. This is because, as told by the bible, Christ’s followers were lost and confused without Christ, and there uncertainty was relieved when Christ resurrected on Easter day. This can relate to the Sound and the Fury, because the uncertainty going on within the Compson family is soon going to be relieved, because there are many situations that Benjy does not know is happening, because he is looked down on as the child, and doesn’t get involved in major matters.

                Benjy’s unique perspective shows us relationships within the household. The one I first noticed was Cady, who seems to always be begging for attention, and wants everything for herself and done her way. Through his perspective, it is also shown the mother’s relationships with each child, and the servants. What makes these observances unique to Benjy’s narration are that Benjy is not bias, and does not have a ‘special’ connection with anyone character. He directly tells the story how he sees it unfold. The Compson’s household also has been created around providing Benjy with what he needs. This shows that the family has spent a lot of time comforting him. Also, through the flashbacks of the chapter, it shows how Benjy remembers positive events in his childhood, again this relates to his innocence. Also, through this chapter it was obvious that Benjy looked up to Caddy the most, which explains why he was hurt when she got married.  Living in the south contributes to the story, first it portrays the large families that are commonly seen in the south. It also has the black servants, commonly seen in the south, and shows the mother’s disrespect for these servants. Yes, Benjy fulfills a symbolic role, by being the person that brings the family together. The family comes together to watch over and protect Benjy. 

The Sound and The Fury 1

William Faulkner was an unexpected writer. He did not graduate high school or college, and spent his life living in a small town in Mississippi. He was most comfortable to the southern way of life. Faulkner had many different jobs, before he began writing as a profession. Faulkner attempted to join the army; sadly, he was turned away due to his height of 5 feet six inches. Then, he enrolled at the University of Mississippi. This is where he began writing short stories, plays, and poems, although he dropped out after three semesters. After this, Faulkner moved to New York and worked at a book store. After this he became a postmaster. With all of these different job attempts, none seemed to fit Faulkner. How did his literary career really take off? It started when Faulkner moved to New Orleans. Here, he got involved with a group of other writer, which was the best thing he could have done to expand his career. As his first book was published, he traveled to Europe, which was the environment for him to accumulate inspiration for his future novels. However this did not work out for him, and he was advised to stick to what he knew best, his home town.

His first attempt to write about his hometown did not please the publishers. Frustrated, and considering giving up, Faulkner decided to write for love, not publication. In this process his first successful novel was created, The Sound and The Fury.  What stands out most in Faulkner’s writing is the way he presents the story. In The Sound and The Fury, there are four chapters, each told by a different narrator telling the same story, which makes his storytelling incredibly unique. He also tells the story by going back and forth between the present and the past. This gives the reader a lot of insight. After this book, Faulkner began to write again for money. At this time he was married and had two children, and making money had become necessary. As he continued his writing career, he published other famous novels such as, As I lay Dying. After this, his first screenplay was created, and he was giver six on screen credits throughout his life. It is no surprise that all of this led to the 1949 Nobel Prize for literature. Faulkner spent his life working hard to achieve success in his literary works, which is why through all of these great accomplishments he is known as one of the best American authors.