Blog #7: Reflecting on the past (question 1)

The characters' reflections on the past throughout the novel shape the story; they give us insight into the reason behind the Compson family's present situation. Some characters, however, reflect on the past more than others.

Memories of the past have left each of the Compson brothers in completely different states of longing. Benjy longs to have the past back, because Caddy was a part of his life then. Quentin wishes that Caddy had never become pregnant with an illegitimate child and thus ruined her and the family's name. Jason, bitter as he is, wants money, and nothing more.

Both Quentin and Benjy reflect quite often on the past – Quentin's reflections being snippets of his stream of consciousness, Benjy's being woven within his present day experiences. While Benjy eludes to many different pieces of the past throughout his section, Quentin's reflects the most coherently on the past, and his reflections impact him immensely.

As a child, Quentin was obsessed with Caddy, and now, he's obsessed with her loss of innocence. Every thought he has relates back to to Caddy. He remembers saying, "I said I have committed incest, Father I said," which illustrates his extreme obsession: Quentin was willing to take the blame for Caddy's illegitimate child, even though her actions were by no means his fault. The past ruins Quentin; because of Caddy's actions and his own inability to cope with the consequences, he kills himself. Quentin, who reflects the most on the past, is ruined by his many memories that he can't forget.

Of the brothers, Jason reflects the least on the past. While he does reflect on certain events, he seems to only remember them because he thinks they are causing his present-day misery. Jason only reflects on Caddy's divorce because it cost him his job at Herbert Head's bank, and so Jason now works at the general store. However, Jason's reflections on the past and his bitterness towards those events like Caddy's divorce have no merit; Jason could very well have been a successful man if he'd wanted to. Jason uses the past as an excuse for his laziness now; he does not reflect nearly as abundantly or extremely on it as Quentin does.

While Jason reflects the least on the past of the three brothers, Dilsey reflects the least of all four characters. She seems unaffected by the past events; she simply goes about her daily routine, day after day. Dilsey is must smarter and wiser than the Compson family. She understands that dwelling in the past is no good for anyone who lives in the present. The Compson's failure to recognize this makes the story tragic; the family, save for Benjy, is simply blinded by its own ignorance.

As I read through The Sound and the Fury, I am constantly amazed. I find the art of writing just as much of a mystery as our human existence. How was Faulker able to do write this – to just sit down and write while actually weaving an intricate web of relationships, conflicts, interactions, literary devices, lessons, images, and so much more? Not to mention that while he was writing this masterpiece, he "learned to read" as well.

Benjy's chapter was the most interesting of them all to me. Once again, Faulkner's writing captivated me. He perfectly captured the personality of a mentally retarded boy. One of the most impressive parts of Benjy's narrative was his unbiased storytelling. Naturally, I would expect someone like Benjy to be like that, but for Faulker to write a story about a dysfunctional and somewhat despicable family from a totally unbiased point of view impressed me. I felt like I was actually being introduced to the family through the eyes of a retarded child. In his introduction, Faulkner said he wrote the rest of the chapters after Benjy's because he thought the book might sell and that it needed more explanation; I agree with Faulkner on this. While Benjy's chapter was definitely the most well-written of the book, Jason's was necessary, in my opinion, to cement everything together.

While Jason's chapter was utterly despicable – what a horrible person – I enjoyed having a break from Quentin and Benjy's stream-of-consciousness narratives. Having a person such as Jason in this book was actually necessary – Faulkner needed a character for which he could lay the lines down, come out and say everything about what was happening without having to disrupt the flow of the other characters. Jason's character nicely contrasts with the other characters in the book to provide the full, 360º view of the Compson family's ruin.