Final Post- Dilsey (April 8th, 1928)

After three turbulent and confusing chapters, it was refreshing to read a chapter that was so straightforward and traditional. This chapter also clears up so much about the book as a whole. I think Faulkner decided to present things in this order because he portrayed the Compson family's downfall as a circle of life.

As readers, we would expect the last chapter to be narrated by Caddy seeing she is the most important character in the novel. However, Dilsey's narration provides us a new view of the Compson family tale for the fourth time. We start in Benjy's chapter with a turbulent explanation that allows us to view all the flaws of the Compson family, than we go to Quentin's chapter in which we encounter the traditional Southern views, and finally Jason's chapter where we see a bitter and resentful view of the Compson family. In Dilsey's chapter however, we find a refreshing contradiction to everything we've learned in the past 3 chapters. Quentin Jr's escape is the ultimate event that forever tarnishes the name of the Compson family. Particularly for the men of the family. Throughout the novel, we see the women dominating the men's lives. Mrs. Compson had Mr. Compson waiting for her constantly, and all 3 brothers have in some way been "dominated" by Caddy, Benjy cannot function without Caddy, Quentin cannot function with Caddy's ways, and Jason cannot forgive Caddy for costing him a  job. However, Caddy has never intentionally done these things, in fact most of these dominations come from a weakness within the brothers. 

Dilsey's narration in the only beacon of hope we have received throughout the entire novel. She is a sharp contrast to the the Compson's downfall because she holds the family together and is not obsessed with withholding traditional Southern values like the others. She loves Benjy unconditionally, accepts Quentin's views, and deals with Jason. Dilsey views the downfall of the Compson family and her words "I seed de beginning, and now I seed de ending", tell us that despite her sadness concerning the destruction of the family, she accepts it and doesn't become obsessed with it in one way or another. She is exact contradiction to the self absorption that ruins the family, and this is why Faulkner wrote the book in this order. He hoped that this contrast would show people that although Dilsey is a black women (someone who is considered the lowest in southern society) she becomes the person of highest honor in the book. Faulkner suggests to us that despite the destruction, Dilsey can redeem the Compson family name. This is also supported by the fact that this chapter takes place on Easter Sunday, a day of redemption. 

Faulkner told this story four times to show us the cycle of destruction and the ultimate redemption. This book has an underying religious plot intertwined into it as well, and that's why Dilsey's chapter is able to tie this story together. This book is "about" how despite the all the destruction and downfall, all you need is one beacon of light to change things. A full cycle is needed in order to change circumstances, and we see this because the book ends the same way it begins with a turbulent description from Benjy. Overall, Faulkner uses the novel to convey his overall distaste for traditional Southern values. 

Jason's Chapter

Well, I knew Jason wasn't a very nice person from Benjy's account, but I never expected something like this. Jason Compson is petty, sarcastic, bitter, and constantly angry. In the past two narratives, we were very easily confused but we experienced emotions. In Jason's narrative, I didn't experience any feelings at all- expect for hatred for Jason. Jason is not reliving the past over and over as his other siblings, but living in the present with a cruelty that helps him make personal gains.

Jason's hatred towards his family (and quite frankly everything in general) shows that he is clearly disturbed. Although his mother favors him, because he is the one child who isn't a so called "burden" to her he doesn't make good use of this love- in fact he takes advantage of it by stealing money from his mother. Jason is not as clever and skilled as his mother thinks, because instead of using his intellect to further his position in life he sits in the hatred he was for his siblings and extended family members. Jason is a very selfish person because he has a sense of motivation to better himself but doesn't actually do anything to do this and in turn blames others for his misfortunes.

Jason is rude and menial towards everyone. He tries to whip Caddy's daughter Quentin when he finds out that she has been skipping school, is rude to the extended black family, and takes advantage of everyone. For example, he speaks about how when his mother dies he will send Benjy straight to Jackson. He also lies to Caddy so she isn't able to see her daughter, and along with his mother burns the checks that Caddy sends for Quentin each month. Although during the chapter Jason does reminisce on the past, he always has someone to blame for whatever his fate may be. He blames Caddy for him losing his job at the bank, he blames Benjy for the family's misfortune, Quentin Jr and the blacks for being more mouths to feed, and his father for not helping him getting to a higher position and favoring Caddy.

In conclusion, I think Jason is bitter and full of hate for everyone and everything because his character is a filler character. We see a dramatic change from the other narratives and characters, but throughout the whole novel we see Jason as a pretty rude and unlikes guy. If anything, his hatred and greed only grows deeper. The other characters always had a new twist to tell us about, but we can just expect a negative comment from Jason of some sorts. Jason's character provides us a sharp contrast to the other two because of his lack of empathy and nostalgia.

June 2, 1910 - Quentin's Chapter

I have to say I liked Benjy's chapter far more than Quentin's.Although Benjy's chapter was far more disorienting and turbulent than Quentin's, it had punctuation and contained a sense of time, which really helped me. While reading Quentin's chapter, I found myself getting lost easily because I couldn't tell where one scene/thought ended and another began. His jumbled thoughts were harder to follow than Benjy's changing memories in my opinion. These jumbled thoughts tell us a lot about Quentin's mental state, just as Benjy's  different perspective told us that there is more than meets the eye about the Compson Family. However, one thing I did notice was that Faulkner continues his symbolism of time in this chapter.

I think Quentin does maintain a clear sense of the "I" in his chapter because through his jumbled experiences he continues to tell us about how he views things, and how he thinks things should be. This is reflected through Quentin's failure to carry out the family name, and obvious clash between the cultures of the Old South and the New South. As the oldest of the Compson family, Quentin is expected to uphold the family status especially while away at Harvard. Quentin is very traditional in his values and ways, meaning he believes in honor, conduct, and protection of the female. Therefore, when he find out about Caddy losing her virginity, he tries to persuade her into committing suicide in order to preserve what little family honor they have left. When she refuses, he claims to his father that he has committed incest in order to protect Caddy's honor. He believes this action to be honorable. 

Quentin's narration becomes confusing to the reader because he has no concept of time. He avoids time constantly, by breaking his watch and avoiding the answer of the repair man at the watch shop. Readers find it hard to keep up with Quentin because they don't how to. Another reason for this confusion, is that the day this chapter was written was the day of Quentin's suicide. 

Quentin's narration suggest that his mental state isn't in the best shape. As we can tell from the confusion due to the lack of time, punctuation, and obsession with the moral code. Quentin tends to focus on abstract concepts such as time, virginity, and honor. These concepts aren't very tangible and therefore they cloud Quentin's thoughts, which result in us being very lost while reading. 

Benjy's Chapter

Benjy is an extremely symbolic character to this novel, from what I can gather so far. As we can tell from the reading so far, living with someone  who is "mentally retarded" does not higher the status of the family.  Unfortunately , it is viewed to be a burden and tarnishes the family name and also often perceived as a punishment. However, I believe that Faulkner purposely uses this "mental retardation" of Benjy to begin the book because Benjy is actually quite insightful and provides a perspective on the books events that we wouldn't receive otherwise. Benjy is seen as a burden in the Compson household because there must be someone there to constantly take care of him, examples of this can be seen with the Mother's attitude concerning Benjy. She blatantly questions why she must deal with her son, and what she has done to receive such punishment. The family even changes his name from Maury to Benjamin after learning of his retardation, fearing that it may soil the reputation of Uncle Maury. Ironic because Uncle Maury is a drunkard, and that doesn't seem to affect his beloved reputation. 

Another significant thing about Benjy, is the date his chapter is recorded on and his birthday. Benjy was 33, the same age as Jesus was when he was crucified. The date on which this chapter is recorded, April 7, 1928 was the Saturday right before Easter. This is significant because April is a month of life and growth. However, historically the day of Benjy's birth is significant  because it is in-between Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday, thus making it  one of the darkest days. Much like Christ himself, Benjy suffers immensely but unlike Christ he can not put a stop to it. 

Not only is Benjy seen as a burden in the Compson family, but he is also the only who seems to recognize the pitfalls of the family. He is not able to do anything about these pitfalls and discrepancies and therefore he simply wails and moans. Benjy's unique perspective of the family provides with different use of the senses. Benjy is able to smell, see, and hear things differently than others in the family. This power is something nobody else in the family has, and therefore it shows us the not so pretty parts of the rest of the family members. 

Benjy is extremely dependent on consistency in his life because that's all he has to keep him afoot throughout the crazy emotions of his family. He cannot rely on himself and therefore must rely on everyone else around him. When turmoil strikes the family, Benjy feels helpless and cannot form his own opinions/emotions on the matters and as a coping mechanism he retreats into the extreme nostalgia that brings him comfort. This speaks about the concept of the family and the South because it says that they don't deal with turmoil well and it reflects poorly on them but they aren't able to see this. It also says that the culture of the South can somewhat be ignorant at times, in this case concerning Benjy's mental retardation. 

Benjy plays a huge symbolic role in the novel, he symbolizes the failure of the Compson family and also seen as a burden to the family in general. He silently symbolizes  every problem the family goes through because they consider him a scapegoat due to his disability. He symbolizes the incredible amount of turmoil the Compson family is in. 

Lesson 1: Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury- Activity 1

William Cuthbert Faulkner was born on September 25, 1897 in New Albany, Mississippi. At a fairly young age, William developed an apt for artistic talents such as writing poetry, drawing, and reading. William's artistic talents developed from the influence of his mother, grandmother, and Mammy Burr (Caroline Burr, the black women who raised him). These early influences were central to Faulkner's  writing. As a child, Faulkner was very shy and drawn back. He never graduated high school. Faulkner first started writing in the late 18th century. He married his sweetheart, Estelle Oldham.

"His earliest literary efforts were romantic, conscientiously modeled on English poets such as Burns, Thomson, Housman, and Swinburne.(http://www.olemiss.edu/mwp/dir/faulkner_william/index.html)
Faulkner was quite the deceiver, for he wished to join the Air Force but was denied this because his height was not adequate and therefore he lied about his origins, and even changed the spelling of his name from Faukner to Faulkner to pass off as a British man. At the age of 17, Faulkner met Philip Stone who also had a very important influence on his writing. Stone became a literary mentor to Faulkner, he introduced him to new literature and proofread many of his early works. In 1925, Faulkner wrote his first novel "Soldier's Play".  Faulkner's work was deeply rooted from traditions in the South, a majority of his fiction Yoknapatawpha Country. After a number of rejections, Faulkner began to write The Sound and The Fury in 1928 by writing 3 short stories about the children of the Compson family.

This book went on to win the Novel Prize for Literature but Faulkner did not enjoy the fame, he credited that his work was no longer his own, but it belonged to those who read it.  His previous rejections fueled Faulkner's passion in writing this new novel, for he claims "People no longer struggle with problems of the spirit". I agree with Faulkner because I feel that an important part of writing anything is to be passionate about your writing to make it truly memorable. If you aren't passionate about it, how will it turn out? In conclusion, Faulkner was a phenomenal writer who had an undying passion behind his work, which made it so memorable.