Dilsey the Delightful Darling

Ah, the final post on The Sound and the Fury, unfortunately Faulkner's run is over. His book ended on a good note though, with the wonderful Dilsey. Dilsey is the strong, protective presence in the Compson family; she is also the only one who seems to have a normal sense of what we call time. The chapter itself is in the usual third-person voice, but it focuses on Dilsey. She places events in a logical timeline, and does't seem to be tied down or obsessed with either the past or the present. This understanding is most clearly seen when she says, "I seen de beginnin, en now I sees de ending." She has witnessed and lived through this transition the Compson family went through, from old south to new south. With this quote, Dilsey shows that she recognizes as Quentin runs away, the Compson family name is reduced to nothing. This final chapter also reinforces the characters that we had previously been introduced to. Mrs. Compson is lazy and a horrible parent just as before; Benjy still finds displeasure if things aren't familiar to him as is evident at the end of the chapter, and Jason is as self-centered and bitter as ever. However, as Dilsey observes and is around these characters constantly, she is not corrupted by them, and instead remains strong willed and adheres the order of things by completing the tasks given to her without question. It is also interesting to consider that the only sane and not self absorbed person left is a black servant. Perhaps the greatest symbol for the new south triumphing over the old south is Dilsey. Her presence as the strong leader of the Compson family shows that a new order in the south is on the way. The racism and hierarchy of the old south, among other things, didn't survive, and they didn't survive in Faulkner's novel either. The order in which Faulkner presented these characters and chapters is also telling. Each chapter becomes easier to read and more coherent as a whole, ultimately building up to a chapter in which the black servant of the household is the focus. Faulkner chose this order to emphasize that each of the Compson boys was deeply flawed or corrupted in some way, and to create a contrast with the normal narration of Dilsey, who is also strong willed compared to the other Compson men. Simply put, the novel is about change. The book specifically addressed the change of the old south to new south and emphasized this change through characters that illustrated one or the other. In the end, the new progressive values and ideals of the new south won out. The consequences for those who try to hold on to the old are shown in the Compson family. Because they tried to clinch to the old south, they were rolled up and tossed aside, eventually reduced to nothing. However, the book ends on a somewhat optimistic note. Not only does the book conclude on Easter sunday, which symbolizes redemption and hope, but it also ends with Benjy's world of chaos and disorder returning to his peaceful routine when Luster returns to the familiar path. Faulkner seems to hint that the Compson family has a chance at redemption and a return to order just as it did for Benjy. In the end, Faulkner's tale signifies that change is essential to survival, and if we don't change with the times, then we could end up much like the Compson family.

Jason and the "Argo-Not Nice's"

As I read The Sound and the Fury, many of the characters I encounter, I feel a degree of sympathy towards. This is far from the case when it comes to Jason. Jason is a bitter, cruel, racist and sexist, who unfortunately is the new head of the Compson family. The very first line of Jason's chapter sets the tone for the rest of his chapter, " Once a bitch always a bitch, what I say." It shows Jason's disregard for women and also reveals something else, his refusal to acknowledge change. Jason himself is a character that doesn't change through time. Even as a child, Jason was tormenting Benjy, who he is extremely embraced of, and he is tattle tailing on Caddy when she gets her clothes wet. Now an adult, Jason is just as cruel, maybe crueler, to those around him. Jason from childhood to present doesn't evolve or change attitudes towards anything or anyone. Jason is also a very bitter and resentful person; he especially harbors animosity towards Caddy because he feels it's her fault he didn't get the job at the bank. He also resents Caddy for ruining the family name, which he thinks is her fault alone. Jason, unlike some of the previous characters, cares highly about himself and what others think about him. This is reflected when he says, "I got a reputation in this town, and I'm not going to have any member of my family going on like a nigger wench." Jason is angrily addressing Quentin here, and just like Quentin's mother, Jason is angered at her promiscuity. Quentin is not only a sexist but a racist too. His comment on Jews reveals this racism, "I have nothing against Jews as an individual...It's just the race." In this racist insult, Jason analyzes it in economic terms, he doesn't like them because he thinks they don't produce anything. This concern with money explains something else, Jason's fixation on the present and using the present as a way to help himself in the future. Perhaps the most disturbing thing Jason does to reveal this attitude, is his willingness to steal from his own family. He takes checks from Caddy meant for Miss Quentin, for himself, and Miss Compson, blinded by her love for Jason, lets this robbery continue. Overall, through Jason's many schemes, actions, and comments, it is clear he is quite a horrible person. His complete disregard for those around him, and the lows he is willing to go to for personal gain, illustrate a cruel and mean-spirited man. While Jason may have been the easiest to read and understand, his chapter was very unpleasant and uncomfortable to read.

Quentin "Tarantino" Compson

If Benjy's chapter was hard to understand, Quentin's chapter was hard to even read. Whole sentences, phrases, and ideas are strung together with no punctuation. There are, believe it or not, several pages in a row without punctuation, which as a reader, is quite frustrating. Faulkner once again experiments with extremely unorthodox writing and narrating techniques, that are difficult for any reader to adapt to. Quentin's chapter is also filled with several reoccurring symbols, that seem to be attached to his obsession with Caddy. The motif of time is once again present in this chapter as it was before with Benjy, except it is reinforced through his watch. As Quentin says, the sound of a watch ticking creates a "long diminishing parade of time you didn't hear." This introduces the idea that the ticking watch will bring up memories of the past and of Caddy to Quentin. In this sense, Quentin is trapped by time and stuck in the past. Quentin's narration is also interesting because it is not always him speaking. There are passages that have other speakers besides Quentin, like Caroline. This creates a confusing sense of the "I" voice that a reader would expect to be consistent throughout the chapter. This, along with the before mentioned jumbling of sentences, creates very confusing writing for the reader. This style of narration clearly shows that Quentin has a mental illness. As the chapter progresses, Quentin's grasp of grammar diminishes. Towards the end his writing is reduced to mere rambling, making essentially no sense. Quentin becomes more upset and anxious about Caddy's sexuality and promiscuity further into the chapter, so much so, he is willing to claim Caddy's child as his own to avoid the disgrace to his family that would surely follow otherwise. Quentin more than others seems to recognize the decline of the Compson family. He is clearly disturbed by the direction his family is headed, and the repeated shadow symbol implies that the family is but a shadow of its former self. It is also interesting to consider the fact that both characters serve as observers to the moral decline of their family, but only Quentin grasps an understanding of what he notices, and what it means. Benjy simply sees it, but does not interpret it. This is best seen in Caddy's promiscuity. Benjy notices she smells of perfume not trees, but he doesn't know what it means. Quentin knows that she has been "dirtied" and is no longer a virgin anymore. Quentin feels trapped under his family's sin and his inability to change it, and eventually he views suicide as the final and only option.

"Three Years Old Thirty Years"

After reading the first chapter of The Sound and The Fury, I'm thoroughly confused. Even though I was warned that the narrator Benjy would be skipping around, I wasn't quite expected for the degree of switching that I encountered. However, it is clear to me Benjy relies solely on senses to understand the world. He narrates the story in a series of descriptions and images, but does not draw any logical conclusions or thoughts from anything. In this way, Benjy becomes an unbiased onlooker to events in the Compson family. He notices things that no one else in the family does, for example, Benjy becomes more disturbed and upset as Caddy begins to not smell like trees anymore, instead he smells her perfume. As Caddy becomes more promiscuous and eventually even loses her virginity, she loses the smell of trees that once pleased Benjy so much. This unique perspective that Benjy provides shows us the moral decay of the Compson family. The decay begins as the old generation of Damuddy dies, then Uncle Maury is caught in an affair, followed by Caddy's immorality, and finally Quentin's suicide. Benjy's extreme nostalgia shows just how important the idea of a family is, especially in the South. The family name is of the utmost importance, as Mrs. Compson has to change Benjy's name from Maury when she learns of his disability. Benjy's family is supposed to care for him, but in reality his mother has no presence with her children. It is instead servants like Dilsey and Luster that care for Benjy, even his sister Caddy is more of a mother to Benjy than his actual mother. It is also interesting to look at Benjy as a Christ-like figure. He was born on Holy Saturday and in the book, is 33 years old, the age of Christ when he was crucified. Benjy like Christ is a sort of innocent, pure figure. He isn't corrupted by sin and is simply a bystander to the moral decline of the family as a whole. For these reasons, Benjy fulfills the symbolic role of Christ in the novel. He also reinforces the idea of living in the present. Things that happen in the present remind Benjy of the past, but there is no distinction for him. It is one blur of events all in the present tense.

The Man, The Myth, The Legend, Faulkner

Welcome to the start of my blogging career. For some undisclosed time I'll be writing stuff on this blog, hopefully it's pretty good stuff. I'll start by talking about the life and times of William Faulkner. Perhaps the most astounding thing about Faulkner is that after not even finishing high school, without a college degree, living in one of the poorest states in the U.S., he managed to write some of the greatest works of American literature. After winning the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1950, Faulkner made a very influential and thought-provoking speech. Faulkner describes how his work is created out of the materials of the human spirit. He seems to be saddened that today's writers have forgotten the problems of human heart in conflict with itself, that the human emotion and aspects of writing were lost. To him, these were the essentials of good writing and if current conditions continued, we would be sitting by watching the end of man. The writer's job is to write about the human soul and spirit, and keep a record of man. This idea that writing is the pillars which man uses to endure and prevail, is something that resonates with me greatly. Writing is how humans express ourselves and our history. I hope this very blog will be a way to express myself, and I invite you to stick around for more.