User:Ghosts of Europa/sandbox/The Sound and the Fury

The Sound and the Fury is a novel by William Faulkner

Style and structure

Benjy Chapter

The first chapter is narrated by Benjy, who is severely mentally challenged. Benjy's narrative recollection is mostly visual, and he cannot clearly differentiate time periods.

The first section is set on April 7, 1928, Benjy's 33rd birthday. This chapter is fragmented across many different periods in time. Critics have pointed to between 4 and 16 distinct episodes. These episodes are told in fragments that emerge in Benjy's memory, and are intentionally disorienting, especially the (indeterminate number of) smaller episodes. However, the larger episodes are delineated by key motifs. April 7th, 1928 itself is marked by Luster looking for his lost quarter. In Benjy's early childhood we see Versh, while in his teen years we see T.P. Faulkner often uses italics to denote shifts in time. But there are some time shifts not marked by italics, such as when intercutting between Caddy's wedding and Damuddy's funeral.

This section covers: Luster and Benjy looking for a quarter around the Compson property (April 7, 1928); Damuddy's funeral in 1900 with Caddy's muddy underwear; Benjy's subsequent name change, also in 1900; Benjy missing Caddy after her marriage, chasing a girl, and being castrated.

In the novel's opening pages, Benjy hears golfers calling for a caddie, which he connects to his sister Caddy. The first time skip comes when Benjy crawls through the fence with Luster as an adult, which causes him to remember crawling through the same fence with Caddy as a child to deliver messages to Mrs. Patterson. He usually associates Caddy with the smell of trees, and links two occassios where she was instead wearing perfume: once at her wedding and once when she was 14 and tried it for the first time.

When recalling Caddy's wedding, Benjy says that the cows were jumping, because he was drunk and misinterprets his own disorientation and tumbling. When Benjy is drunk, there are no quotation marks around dialog to emphasize his disorientation.

In this section, Faulkner consistently uses periods for dialog instead of question marks or exclamation points, flatting Benjy's perception of the speech as devoid of inflection.

Quentin Chapter

This section, narrated by Quentin, also jumps around in time.. His transitions through time are less abrupt than Benjy's.. Quentin frequently mentions a "confession" that he committed incest, but it's not clear whether this confession really happened..

In the present, this section follows normal rules of punctuation and quotation. In the past, as Quentin is overwhelmed by memory, they break down. Although sometimes even his memories of the past are more controlled. Many of quenti's recollections begin in a very controlled way, then become increasingly disjointed and involuntary. In his uncontrolled thoughts, ideas and people merge into each other.

This section arguably represents Maundy Thursday. Quentin frequently recalls quotes and ideas from his father, which are often extremely cynical.

Plot summary

Benjy is born on April 7th, 1892.

In 1900, Damuddy dies and Benjy's name is changed.. Caddy climbs a tree to see the funeral through the window, and her brothers see her underwear.

In 1908, Maury send Benjy to deliver messages to Mrs. Patterson. Mr. Patterson chases Benjy with a hoe, then later apologizes and sends Benjy some candy.

The family sells Benjy's land to pay for Quentin to go to Harvard, and the land is turned into a golf course.

In 1909, Quentin attends Harvard. Caddy loses her virginity.

On April 25, 1910, Caddy gets married to Herbert Head. Shortly after, Benjy attacks a girl and is castrated.

In January 1911, Miss Quentin is born.

In 1912, Father dies.

On April 7, 1928, Luster looks for a quarter and Miss Quentin eventually gives him one, and Benjy and Luster watch Quentin escape the house.

Major characters

Benjy. He was originally named Maury after his uncle, but was renamed at age 5.

Jason. As a child, Jason chewed paper, symbolizing his consuming nature.

Versh is Benjy's caretaker roughly until Benjy turns 13

T.P. is Benjy's second caretaker.

Themes

The first words in the novel describe the Compson fence. The word fence appears 7 times on the first page alone, and symbolizes the ways in which the Compsons are trapped. . For Benjy, fences are sexual boundaries. He gets snagged on a nail crossing through the fence, and Luster comments that he always does; also, when he slips through the open gate he attacks the young girl. He and Caddy would slip through the fence to deliver love letters from Maury to Mrs. Patterson.

Caddy tries to appease Benjy, who acts as her superego. She washes her mouth out with soap when Benjy sees her kiss Charlie.