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.