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.