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.