It's over. Not only the novel, but also the Compson family. In this final chapter, we see, through third-person narration, almost everything at once. It's like a revelation, or it feels like the reader is this omnipresent being that can now witness everything as whole and not from only one character's tainted point of view. I think Faulkner wrote the novel like this because he wanted to set the tone by beginning the story from Benjy's perspective, and making his readers favor one character over the other right off the bat. Typically, authors write a story in a way that makes the reader decide who they like and who they don't. With The Sound and the Fury, it seems that Faulkner is trying to persuade his audience to choose one over the other, and the obvious best choices if that.
We see throughout every chapter, Caddy is mentioned once or twice. However, each brother has a different view of their sister. To Benjy, Caddy is like a safe haven and he is comforted by little things that remind him of her, like her scent. Quentin is constantly remembering Caddy for her "sluttiness", which is something he is obsessed with. And Jason thinks of Caddy as the person who ruined his job opportunities due to her divorce from Herbert Head. With that being said, the novel seems to be about Caddy, told from four different perspectives. This brings us back to the Macbeth quote: "(life) is a tale told by an idiot, signifying nothing." The novel is about Caddy herself, yet we aren't blessed with a chapter narrated by her. Her life story is told to us the readers by three other idiots, her brothers. But the "signifying nothing" aspect of the quotation still ponders me. Caddy's life is insignificant? However, that can't be true because she has unintentionally affected so many people's lives. That has to be significant. Perhaps this is Faulkner's way of defying that quotation by saying life doesn't signify nothing, life is always important, and with four different narrators, three with different interpretations of the subject of the novel, it doesn't signify nothing. More than one "tale-teller" represents a stronger influence than simply nothing.
Monday, April 20, 2015
Sunday, April 19, 2015
Jason's Chapter
In the third chapter, it's obvious that Jason is the narrator and that he's also a jerk (I could use some other more descriptive words, but I'll leave it at that); the first sentence of his chapter already consists of two insulting names to describe his own niece, which hinted to me that this guy doesn't genuinely care about his family, which is a parallel to Mrs. Compson, who actually sees Jason as "...the only one of them that isn't a reproach" (to her), (page 181).
One thing we notice in this chapter is yet another reference to Caddy and her marriage, or I guess divorce now. All of the siblings, Benjy, Quentin, and Jason, each think back to Caddy, but specifically her wedding. They all have different memories from the event, Jason's mainly focusing on the divorce aspect because due to the split, Jason lost his job opportunities with Caddy's (ex)husband. Because of this, Jason seems like an angry man who blames other people for his problems, which is what Faulkner was trying to say by bringing up Jason's interpretation of the divorce itself.
I think the most ironic thing about this chapter was Mrs. Compson's undying love for Jason and not for her other children, although, in my opinion, Jason is the worst child. He's a bitter human being, to say the least, and his mother can't see that. Granted, her vision is deteriorating, somehow she had to have seen Jason for the person he really is. I think this can all be described by "blind love", where Mrs. Compson loved Jason so much, that she didn't even notice his mischievous ways.
In all, we see that Jason is a smart man, considering that he came up with a clever money-stealing scheme. But it's clear to see that Jason doesn't put his brilliance to good use because the hatred in his life seems to linger, but only because he doesn't look on the bright side of things. However, he has no one to really impress because his mother thinks he's a god-sent perfect human being. Nevertheless, we all see the kind of person Jason really is, and personally, I've never hated a character so much in my life.
One thing we notice in this chapter is yet another reference to Caddy and her marriage, or I guess divorce now. All of the siblings, Benjy, Quentin, and Jason, each think back to Caddy, but specifically her wedding. They all have different memories from the event, Jason's mainly focusing on the divorce aspect because due to the split, Jason lost his job opportunities with Caddy's (ex)husband. Because of this, Jason seems like an angry man who blames other people for his problems, which is what Faulkner was trying to say by bringing up Jason's interpretation of the divorce itself.
I think the most ironic thing about this chapter was Mrs. Compson's undying love for Jason and not for her other children, although, in my opinion, Jason is the worst child. He's a bitter human being, to say the least, and his mother can't see that. Granted, her vision is deteriorating, somehow she had to have seen Jason for the person he really is. I think this can all be described by "blind love", where Mrs. Compson loved Jason so much, that she didn't even notice his mischievous ways.
In all, we see that Jason is a smart man, considering that he came up with a clever money-stealing scheme. But it's clear to see that Jason doesn't put his brilliance to good use because the hatred in his life seems to linger, but only because he doesn't look on the bright side of things. However, he has no one to really impress because his mother thinks he's a god-sent perfect human being. Nevertheless, we all see the kind of person Jason really is, and personally, I've never hated a character so much in my life.
Sunday, April 12, 2015
Quentin's Chapter
I think Quentin's chapter is much more difficult to understand because immediately the reader becomes lost as to why Quentin is doing the things he is. For me, I felt like a detective in a crime scene type of tv show who has to identify the problem that is causing the individual to carry out such odd things, like buying tailor's weights, for what seems to be no apparent reason yet. Quentin's chapter is perplexing because it seems like a bunch on staggered thoughts, which is Faulkner's "stream-of-consciousness" technique; however, this writing style suggests to the reader that Quentin's mental state isn't completely stable, which is later confirmed when we discover that he plans to commit suicide.
Unlike Benjy's version of confusing, Quentin not only has thoughts from the past that interrupt his current narration, but also visions of desire, where he talks about Caddy and his strange incestuous relationship with her. This puzzled me, and probably other readers, because it was difficult to distinguish what really happened between those two, and what was simply a daydream.
So far, it's clear that both Benjy and Quentin both felt very strongly about Caddy. However, Benjy seemed to mostly see her as a type of safe haven, while Quentin seems to be chronically disgusted with her actions. Quentin's constant rewinding back to any situation with Caddy and her virginity, or rather, lack there of, hints to some kind of obsession. Even his father concludes that his struggle with Caddy's sexual ways comes from his reputation as a virgin. To his father, virginity isn't a real thing, only something made up, which seems to deeply offend him. Quentin then proclaims that he too has slept with Caddy, which is bewildering because either he really did, wished he did, did it to protect his sister's reputation, or only said it to obtain Mr. Compson's approval.
After reading the chapter, a lot of questions arose. If Quentin claims to be pure and wouldn't dare stain his reputation as an honorable man, why does he resort to suicide? Is it because he is also searching for acceptance, which he struggles so hard to find, even within his own family? Also, what is the situation between him and his sister Caddy? Throughout the chapter, he constantly asks other men if they have a sister, or questions to himself if someone, like St. Francis, for example, had a sister. This is a prominent theme throughout his narration. Another theme is time. Although Quentin's thoughts are jumbled from past, present, and fantasies, it seems that he is always followed by time, due to the constant debuts of clocks and ticking. All of these motifs confirm Quentin's rocky mentality and answer only a few of the mind-boggling questions, nevertheless, there's still something lost in translation.
Unlike Benjy's version of confusing, Quentin not only has thoughts from the past that interrupt his current narration, but also visions of desire, where he talks about Caddy and his strange incestuous relationship with her. This puzzled me, and probably other readers, because it was difficult to distinguish what really happened between those two, and what was simply a daydream.
So far, it's clear that both Benjy and Quentin both felt very strongly about Caddy. However, Benjy seemed to mostly see her as a type of safe haven, while Quentin seems to be chronically disgusted with her actions. Quentin's constant rewinding back to any situation with Caddy and her virginity, or rather, lack there of, hints to some kind of obsession. Even his father concludes that his struggle with Caddy's sexual ways comes from his reputation as a virgin. To his father, virginity isn't a real thing, only something made up, which seems to deeply offend him. Quentin then proclaims that he too has slept with Caddy, which is bewildering because either he really did, wished he did, did it to protect his sister's reputation, or only said it to obtain Mr. Compson's approval.
After reading the chapter, a lot of questions arose. If Quentin claims to be pure and wouldn't dare stain his reputation as an honorable man, why does he resort to suicide? Is it because he is also searching for acceptance, which he struggles so hard to find, even within his own family? Also, what is the situation between him and his sister Caddy? Throughout the chapter, he constantly asks other men if they have a sister, or questions to himself if someone, like St. Francis, for example, had a sister. This is a prominent theme throughout his narration. Another theme is time. Although Quentin's thoughts are jumbled from past, present, and fantasies, it seems that he is always followed by time, due to the constant debuts of clocks and ticking. All of these motifs confirm Quentin's rocky mentality and answer only a few of the mind-boggling questions, nevertheless, there's still something lost in translation.
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