CADDY'S ABSENT PERSPECTIVE

Caddy is perhaps the most important figure in the novel, as she represents the object of obsession for all three of her brothers. Therefore, I find it interesting that although the major plot conflicts and climax of the novel revolve around Caddy, her perspective is lacking from the novel. Candace Compson’s character was developed mainly through the first three sections of the novel through her actions, as much of the rise and fall of tragedies throughout the novel revolve around her. As a child, she was headstrong and rebellious, but also loving and affectionate. She was the only one of Faulkner’s characters to have the ability to love, becoming a mother figure for Quentin and Benjy in place of the self-absorbed Mrs. Compson.

In each of the first three sections that represent the internal monologues of her brothers, she is of primary concern to them. The reader learns about Caddy through each of her brothers. Benjy and Quentin love Caddy in two very distinct ways, while she is presented rather a nuisance for Jason, like everything else. In the absence of Mrs. Compson, Caddy becomes a mother figure for Benjy, creating a strong bond between the two characters. Throughout Benjy’s section Caddy’s actions as a child foreshadow one of the main plot conflicts: her promiscuity. Caddy’s "muddying of her drawers" in the stream as a young girl foreshadows her later promiscuity. It also presages and symbolizes the shame that her conduct brings on the Compson family. On the other hand, Quentin is obsessed with his sister. He is emotionally distraught when aware of her promiscuity, and proposes incest and suicide to relieve her of her sins. Caddy is the main fixation of Quentin’s mind. His grief and inability to cope with his sister’s conduct compels him to later commit suicide; the second major plot conflict in the novel.

When Faulkner spoke of The Sound and the Fury later in his career, he called Caddy his "heart’s darling." She’s the image that generated his novel, and is therefore, the main focus of the novel. Given that, it is peculiar that her perspective is absent in the novel. In theory, Faulkner may have decided to format the plot in this way to leave a sense of confusion and suspense throughout the novel. Even with the closing of the novel, the reader is still unsure of the motive behind outcome. Caddy is disowned; Miss Quentin (Caddy’s daughter) runs away, and only the pitiful Mrs. Compson, Jason, and Disley remain. Caddy’s perception of the families disintegration would have given a reader a better understanding behind her character’s lustful actions and brought clarity to the plot.

STYLE

What initially attracted me to William Faulkner’s The Sound and The Fury was neither the excessive plot line, nor the numerous prestigious awards it received, but rather the style the novel was written in. Growing somewhat tiresome of the typical “first person” narrative, I aspired to explore a novel with a different style of writing. Faulkner’s The Sound and The Fury satisfied my request in more way than one.

The Sound and The Fury employs a number of different narrative styles. It is separated into four different sections, each written in a style unique to the narrator.Faulkner exhibits the considerable versatility of his writing, adjusting the typical first person narrative style by adapting the sentence structure, punctuation, typography and tone to each character’s personality and way of thinking. The novel's appreciation has mainly been due to the technique of its construction, Faulkner's ability to recreate the thought patterns of the human mind. It was essential to the development of the stream-of-consciousness narrative technique that Faulkner exercised in the first three sections.

In the first section, Benjy expressed his views and understanding mainly through memories and smell. Benjamin Compson is autistic, but more often referred to as retarded throughout the text. He appears unable interpret what is going on and doesn't understand the connection between cause and effect, mixing memories with present time. But, through short sentences, and sentence fragments concerning chiefly smells and feelings, Benjy manages to express key plot incidents. Through his memories, which occur through the section without any indication, he foreshadows many conflicts. He recalls Caddy muddy drawers when she climbs the pear tree which foretells the future disgrace of the Compson name due to Caddy’s promiscuity that will never wash away. Although Benjy appears to be an unreliable narrator, as each section unfolds the truth in his actions and emotions are uncovered.

Quentin’s section is written in a very diverse form, strongly embodying the stream-of-consciousness technique. Faulkner style of writing in the section plays upon Quentin’s severe depression, and obsessive compulsiveness. The following passage presents the thoughts of Quentin as he recalls bits and pieces of statements made by his mother:

“what have I done to have been given children like these Benjamin was punishment enough and now for her to have no more regard for me her own mother I've suffered for her dreamed and planned and sacrificed I went down into the valley yet never since she opened her eyes has she given me one unselfish thought at times I look at her I wonder if she can be my child”

In contrast, based on Quentin’s mood, the sentence style changes. Instead of long run-on sentences, Faulkner uses sentence fragments, wholly displaying Quentin’s internal struggle, and inability to cope with the his family’s decay.

The third section, narrated by Jason Compson, is written much clearer and is easier to understand. Through Jason’s section is simplistic, it displays his sadistic tendencies and conniving personality. His passage is written in a Southern, bitter tone. From his narration, the reader is able to uncover past conflicts, which previously might have been unclear and gains a deeper insight to Mr. Compson’s death, and Mrs. Compson’s insecurity.

The final section is no longer written in the stream-of-consciousness technique, presented in an omniscient, third-person point of view. It is said to exemplify Faulkner’s own opinion concerning the Southern transition during the post-Civil War era, through the actions and emotions of Disley, the Compson’s black servant.

In each section new angles emerge, and more details and questions arise. Although initially difficult to understand, the stream-of-consciousness technique is highly effective. It allows the reader to associate the style with each character’s individual personality. The four different perspectives also allow the plot to unfold throughout gradually the novel. Faulker’s The Sound and The Fury, exemplifies the effectiveness of different writing techniques.

THE MOTIF OF TIME

By definition, the term "motif" refers to recurring ideas or thoughts that act as a unifying idea, and it sometimes develops as a commentary on characterization or on the central ideas in the work. Sometimes motifs recur so frequently that they enhance the meaning of the novel and often rise to symbolic importance.

Throughout the novel The Sound and The Fury, Faulkner explores timelessness, chiefly focusing on how the past intrudes on the present. He does so by using reoccurring symbolism. Each section of the novel draws upon a different symbol, uniquely connected to each character’s personality. Faulkner effectively utilizes each symbol to represent time and patterns within each characters life.

In Benjy’s narration, the concept of time is nonexistent. There is no distinction between present time and his memories from past years. For Benjy, life is a continuous strain of sensuous experiences; he understands through smell and touch, as well as reoccurring social patterns. The memory of the episode at the branch (1898) is as recent and as vivid as an episode in 1914 or the morning of April 7, 1928. The reader has no warning of the sudden switch of time, thus making it difficult to understand each memory or foreshadow implied. During Benjy’s narration, he consistently returned to the gate in his yard, waiting for Caddy. Faulkner exaggerates Benjy’s habit to relives past pleasurable experiences, such as the gate, to show how actions of the past are important to Benjy because they gave him pleasure.

In contrast, the opposite is true in Quentin’s section. Quentin is obsessive over the concept of time. Although a seemingly infatuated by time, Quentin purposely tears off the hand on a stop watch his father gave him, trying to escape time. This event at the beginning of the section also introduced the reader to his character’s internal despair. However, despite Quentin’s actions, he cannot elude his fixation. At the jeweler’s, he is fascinated by a window display of watches. He finds himself obsessing over the ticking off his broken watch, and constantly recalls quotations from his father referring to the passing of time. The symbolism involved with this obsession represents a larger piece of his character. His inability to cope and erase his fixation with watches is mirrored through his obsession with his sister Caddy, which leads to his suicide. Faulkner’s focus on Quentin’s obsession with watches throughout the beginning of the section was ultimately a strong foreshadow to the later unraveling of his character.

Unlike Quentin, Jason sees no importance of the past. He is very much concerned with the present and is always conscious of the time of his actions and the time of day. Similarly, Jason relies upon routine and consistency, displaying no interests in the future. His concern with only present time and his own self-absorbance relays the message that, or Jason, that every second counts.

The final section uses time by emphasizing the clock that Dilsey keeps on the kitchen wall. When the clock strikes five times, Dilsey knows that it is eight o'clock. Her character uses religious belief to examine the beginning and the end of time. She feels that there is evidence that the Compson family is close to the end of time, saying: "I seed de beginnin, en now I sees de endin”. Disley examines time as a continuum, acknowledging the beginning of time and anticipating the end.

Faulkner’s manipulation of time as a motif is one of his main patterns within The Sound and The Fury. Much of the meaning within the novel revolves around each character’s perception and reaction to time.

THEME

Set in the first half of the nineteenth century, Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury signifies the degradation of Southern families’ tradition, morals and the inability to cope with the modernizing world. The families in this time period were expected to embody the typical aristocrat values. Men were brave, masculine, and carried the responsibility to continue the family name. Women were expected to show grace, femininity, virginity, and to marry and bare children. There was a strong appeal for religion, particularly Christianity, and a strong belief in family reputation.

The Compson family as a whole symbolized the collapse of these values following the Civil War and Reconstruction era. Each member of the Compson family seemed tainted by self-pity, unable to cope with the collapse of traditional Southern values within their family. Mr. Compson, condemned with alcoholism, believes that he cannot control what befalls on his family. Mrs. Compson lives in a haze of selfishness, continually wallowing in self-pity. Caddy, the daughter, becomes promiscuous, and is disowned by the family, as she defies traditional Southern morals. Quentin, the eldest son and the only character who strongly embodies the aristocrat values, cannot cope with society, eventually killing himself. While Jason, the youngest son, is filled with hatred and greed. Disley, the servant who cherishes her relationship with God, is the only character to maintain her morals. Her character symbolizes a hope and perseverance of Southern values.

All of the characters in The Sound and the Fury display ironic opposites to the typical Southern values, demonstrating through fiction the effects the ending of the Civil War had on Southern lifestyle. Faulkner was very much preoccupied with the question of the ideals of the old South could be maintained through a time of reconstruction, using each character’s life to exemplify different changes within society’s values. As a whole, the Compson family could be interpreted as an examination of the corrosion of traditional Southern morals, only to be replaced by modern helplessness.