Jason's Chapter

Jason is the most unlikable book character I have ever immersed myself in. He’s stubborn and selfish. His character is very concerned with image and public appeal. He lets that be a driving force behind a lot of his choices. We also discover that his character is inherently hateful; he doesn’t like black people, women or Jews.

A main focus of this chapter is that Caddy’s daughter, Quentin, is living with her grandmother and Jason. The Compson duo seem to take out a lot of their frustrations with the family legacy on Quentin. Jason constantly accuses her of promiscuity, wearing too little clothing and too much makeup, and skipping school to do her impure work. For Jason this is a big no-no. A southern woman is not to be promiscuous in any way, and it doesn’t help that he fears Quentin is following in Caddy’s footsteps.

Jason is self centered and bitter. He yells at Luster in the beginning of the chapter because he didn’t replace his car tire, and because Luster is letting Benjy in the front-yard when he should be kept away from the neighbors sight. Jason is also still very hurt that his family chose to send (boy) Quentin to Harvard and not him. Obviously he thinks that choice didn’t pay off for the family. He is bitter that Caddy’s husband never got him a job, and he blames Caddy and her lifestyle for that. Overall, Jason seems to be very comfortable blaming other people for his problems, and seeing the wrongs they commit, besides stepping away from his family issues and dealing with them himself.

Not to forget the intense case of theft occurring by Jason’s hand. He’s been stealing money from Caddy and Quentin for years now and using it, presumably, to invest in the stock market and purchase things for himself. Meanwhile he’s got his mother fully bamboozled into his scheming because she feels as though he’s the only child that hasn’t failed her. In my opinion, however, it seems to me that he couldn’t care less about his mother.

Overall, Jason is really quite a despicable man. Reading from his perspective was actually a bit infuriating to me, because I felt rather trapped in the mind of a colossal jerk. However, he did provide some very clear details about what’s going on in his family, and what’s happened in the past, which I believe will be very key to unlocking the meaning of this whole story.

Quentin's Chapter

For me the Quentin chapter was more confusing than the Benjy chapter, but for different reasons. In Benjy’s narration we are given random time shifts to chew on. With Quentin, though, Faulkner feeds us with human emotion. To further complicate things we must also decipher the human emotion of a suicidal man.

We learn in this chapter how much of an effect Mr. Compson, the father, has had on the whole family but especially Quentin. In this chapter Quentin frequently recalls, or remembers, phrases or advice his father shared with him. We learn that Mr. Compson believes that life has very little meaning. This is a direct contradiction to how Quentin views the world; he tries to see everything systematically and in order. However, his entire life has been based around his family which has repeatedly let down the orderly system that Quentin desires so badly. Things do very often go as planned in the Compson family.

The best example of this is Caddy’s pregnancy. Quentin is extremely uncomfortable with the pregnancy, which goes against every system of values he has, but is also dismayed by his father's seemingly indifference to the issue. Mr. Compson seems to think that Quentin’s views on Caddy’s promiscuity are irrelevant, which degrades Quentin’s systems of belief. He cannot stand to live without that kind of order in his life.

Secondly, we see in this chapter that Quentin has an obsession with clocks and time. He has a few ‘flashbacks,’ if you will, to phrases his father said about time. Mr. Compson implies that time will essentially fix all problems. Quentin doesn’t like this because he wants life to have meaning, and not be something that can slip away with time.

Quentin holds an “I” perspective through the beginning of the chapter, but as time goes on and his mental state becomes less and less stable his narration begins to fall apart. He becomes more desperate and worried, recalling more and more traumatizing things that happened in his past. His mental state is unstable throughout the chapter, which is demonstrated by his obsession with his father’s beliefs, clocks and Caddy’s ‘sins,’ yet it falls apart further by the end of the chapter and comes to a conclusion with his suicide.

Overall I did like this chapter more than Benjy’s but it was much harder to read. It’s difficult being inside another character's head and trying to understand their motives and emotions.

Benjy's Role

The first chapter in Sound and the Fury is full of important information and gives the reader an idea of what to expect in the coming novel. We are thrown full force into incredibly sudden time shifts and difficult, dense language. I think this is done to set the whole premise of the book. It's going to be full of changes, which will be something to be cautious about, and it will be a book where deep reading is a must.

This chapter also introduces us to the first narrator, Benjy. In this portion of the book he is both a young child and, due to a shift in time, a 33 year old man. Through both perspectives he gives us a glimpse into the day to day life being a handicapped man in a 1920's era traditional southern family. He cannot speak, which adds to his character as well. Benjy focuses a lot on his past. He spends much time recalling memories from his childhood and things about Caddy, his sister and one of the only people in the novel who seems to really like him. This says a lot about who Benjy is: he doesn't particularly worry much about whats happening around him because he just recalls the goodness from his past, and he also seems saddened by the life he's living as a 33 year old. That's why he recalls so much from his past.

Another interesting topic is that the first chapter of this book is set near Easter Sunday, and Benjy has just turned 33 - the age of Christ when he was killed. This brings up a very interesting religious question, and it ties into Benjy: he may symbolize both Christ's innocence and his suffering. I feel that this may become an important theme in the story so I'll definitely be watching for more.

Overall, we've been introduced to Benjy and through him we've learned a lot about his environment and family workings. This first chapter really opens the reader up to what is to come, and it will be an important starting point to continue to work off of.