Dilsey's Chapter was supposed to be the final piece of the puzzle; and while it may partially do that, I feel like the ending was a tad anticlimactic. Probably because there is no official "ending", since the books timeline is scattered throughout the book. However I will say the Dilsey's chapter was surprisingly unbiased. I was expecting lots of grumbling about how horrible Jason is and how delusional Mrs. Compson is, but the events were presented almost as black and white as Benjy's narration. Part of me suspects that Dilsey wrote like this out of fear of the Compsons, and part of me thinks that she wrote like this because she legitimately does not know any better. She's so unbiased that the narration is almost third person. The only giveaway is the occasional spelling or grammar mistake which is symbolic of Dilsey's little to no education.
Having finished reading The Sound and the Fury, Faulkner presented the narrators in order of complexity. Now, I know what you're saying, "But Benjy's narration was so simple!", but Benjy actually produced the hardest to deceive narration of the bunch. His disability makes it difficult to decipher what is actually going on. Yes, he does present things literally as they appear to him, but you don't get the full story with him narrating. Merely the tip of the iceberg. Quentin gets more complex, as you start to see the true controversy within the Compson family start to arise, but his questionable sanity makes the reader struggle to see what is really happening. Jason's chapter is where things finally start to make sense. Jason is the most "normal" of the bunch, and as such, gets to bully his underprivileged family so that he can do whatever he wants. Then we have Dilsey's chapter, where the narration is almost your normal third-person style writing that you see in most of today's literature.
The effect that this style of narration has on The Sound and the Fury is a submerging effect; where Faulkner slowly sinks you into the plot. First giving you the raw, literal details before moving into the juicy parts that require insight to see. Where many of today's books have a linear plot that is essentially a ride from point A to point B in a straight line, Faulkner's story is a matter of connecting the dots as they are presented to do, and often times, they are presented out of order. Definitely a unique style of writing, but I'm still on the fence about which style I prefer.
In regards to the Macbeth quote, I think this is meant to shed light on what The Sound and the Fury is actually about. It's not about the Compson family; its much, much bigger than that. If Faulkner wanted to write a story about a family, then he would've done so in the normal, linear fashion that is overdone to death in today's literary world. This book is about how a person's perspective can change the story. Instead of just telling us about it, Faulkner chose to demonstrate it by developing these characters and becoming them himself in order to write like them.
Monday, April 20, 2015
Jason's Chapter
Remember how I said that Quentin was the narcissistic one in the Compson family? I was wrong. Jason is by far the most inconsiderate, narcissistic, rude, and genuinely spiteful human being inside of this book. His general disregard for others' wellbeing is shocking, as demonstrated by how he has stolen roughly $50,000 from Caddy over the past 15 years by pocketing the money he sends for Ms. Quentin's upbringing.
If you were to place the narrators on a scale of unbiased to biased, Jason would be the most biased. Everything he does is done with concern for himself and himself only. Where Benjy presents things in an honest and upfront manner, Jason presents his narration in the most human form possible; in all of its biased hatred for the rest of the characters in the story. Jason's personality is culminated by the fact that he uses his sister's money to buy a prostitute. It doesn't get any worse than that.
Jason seems to be the only beneficiary of the Compson family's woes. His mother seems to be easily bullied into agreeing with Jason's whimsical and brutally honest opinions. His sister is no longer around after getting kicked out because she sleeps around too much. Benjy's mind isn't developed enough to the extent that he just follows along with whatever everyone else is doing. Quentin even committed suicide because his family is literally awful. Since Jason is the only "normal" one of the bunch, he abuses the situation for his own personal gain, its not like anyone is going to stop him. Especially his mother, which I'm still completely baffled about how she can appreciate a son who is such a genuinely horrible person.
If you were to place the narrators on a scale of unbiased to biased, Jason would be the most biased. Everything he does is done with concern for himself and himself only. Where Benjy presents things in an honest and upfront manner, Jason presents his narration in the most human form possible; in all of its biased hatred for the rest of the characters in the story. Jason's personality is culminated by the fact that he uses his sister's money to buy a prostitute. It doesn't get any worse than that.
Jason seems to be the only beneficiary of the Compson family's woes. His mother seems to be easily bullied into agreeing with Jason's whimsical and brutally honest opinions. His sister is no longer around after getting kicked out because she sleeps around too much. Benjy's mind isn't developed enough to the extent that he just follows along with whatever everyone else is doing. Quentin even committed suicide because his family is literally awful. Since Jason is the only "normal" one of the bunch, he abuses the situation for his own personal gain, its not like anyone is going to stop him. Especially his mother, which I'm still completely baffled about how she can appreciate a son who is such a genuinely horrible person.
Sunday, April 12, 2015
Quentin's Chapter
Quentin's narration style present the reader with a more human perspective of the story in a biased sense. Unlike Benjy, Quentin's emotions are frequently mixed in with his storytelling to the point where its confusing. His fantasies cannot be separated from the actual narrative, which is why his narration style is as confusing, if not more-so, than Benjy's.
Quentin's overuse of "I" when telling the story definitely makes his presentation choppy and monotonous. Everything that happens somehow relates to himself and how he is affected by it. Rather than stating what happened, Quentin states his own reaction to it. His storytelling is almost narcissistic, especially when you take into context of how angry he is that Caddy is pregnant with Dalton Ames' child, and how Quentin goes to his father and tells him of how he committed incest with Caddy.
It's completely valid to argue that Quentin is less stable mentally than Benjy, because while Benjy's mental capacity is comparable to an 8 year old's, we can tell by his narrative style that he is stable and able to comprehend what is going on. Whereas Quentin's narrative style is jumpy and mixed with his own fantasies. Benjy's chapter is easier to comprehend because the reader understands what is going on in his mind; we understand his disability and the effects it has on his storytelling abilities, but with Quentin, it is apparent that there is something wrong with him mentally (that's why he's suicidal), but since we don't fully understand what is wrong with him, we can't grasp his writing style as well as we can understand Benjy's. That's why Benjy is the better narrator.
Quentin's overuse of "I" when telling the story definitely makes his presentation choppy and monotonous. Everything that happens somehow relates to himself and how he is affected by it. Rather than stating what happened, Quentin states his own reaction to it. His storytelling is almost narcissistic, especially when you take into context of how angry he is that Caddy is pregnant with Dalton Ames' child, and how Quentin goes to his father and tells him of how he committed incest with Caddy.
It's completely valid to argue that Quentin is less stable mentally than Benjy, because while Benjy's mental capacity is comparable to an 8 year old's, we can tell by his narrative style that he is stable and able to comprehend what is going on. Whereas Quentin's narrative style is jumpy and mixed with his own fantasies. Benjy's chapter is easier to comprehend because the reader understands what is going on in his mind; we understand his disability and the effects it has on his storytelling abilities, but with Quentin, it is apparent that there is something wrong with him mentally (that's why he's suicidal), but since we don't fully understand what is wrong with him, we can't grasp his writing style as well as we can understand Benjy's. That's why Benjy is the better narrator.
Monday, March 30, 2015
Benjy's Chapter
Faulkner begins The Sound and the Fury with a more complex chapter to set the tone for the rest of the book. It's not just this chapter that's "disorienting", granted, some chapters are going to be more confusing than others, but his writing style in general tends to air more on the side of confusion rather than ease. Especially when writing from Benjy's perspective. This is probably to provide a more in depth look at what Benjy's mind must be like; scattered, but factual and unbiased.
Benjy is unique in that he doesn't really have a specific role in the Compson family. His family members (with the exception of Caddy), all perceive him as a sort of burden on them. Specifically his mother, who seems to feel compelled to constantly refer to him as a "baby" and act as though her life is somehow worsened by Benjy's existence; she's embarrassed to call him her son. Nothing is expected of Benjy, and that is why he makes the perfect narrator. He presents things just as they are, he has no biased opinions, only innocence (at least, as far as we can see right now).
The only issues that may arise with Benjy being the narrator is lack of consistency in the ways that he tells the story. While he does present the Compson family in an unbiased, innocent light, he often daydreams and has flashbacks which makes for a painfully confusing reading experience. However his natural disposition for nostalgia provokes an interesting question; what happened? Plot-wise we know that something happened to Caddy, something so big that the event has split Benjy's consciousness right down the middle into two separate eras; while Caddy was with Benjy, and while Caddy wasn't around. This resembles the AD / BC timeline revolving around Jesus' life/death. The only problem being that we don't know what happened.
The Sound and the Fury is all one big puzzle, and as we read we gather bits and pieces and start to fit them together. However as we fit this puzzle together we realize that every piece we have been given fits one specific piece that we don't have yet; and that piece is Caddy's story.
Benjy is unique in that he doesn't really have a specific role in the Compson family. His family members (with the exception of Caddy), all perceive him as a sort of burden on them. Specifically his mother, who seems to feel compelled to constantly refer to him as a "baby" and act as though her life is somehow worsened by Benjy's existence; she's embarrassed to call him her son. Nothing is expected of Benjy, and that is why he makes the perfect narrator. He presents things just as they are, he has no biased opinions, only innocence (at least, as far as we can see right now).
The only issues that may arise with Benjy being the narrator is lack of consistency in the ways that he tells the story. While he does present the Compson family in an unbiased, innocent light, he often daydreams and has flashbacks which makes for a painfully confusing reading experience. However his natural disposition for nostalgia provokes an interesting question; what happened? Plot-wise we know that something happened to Caddy, something so big that the event has split Benjy's consciousness right down the middle into two separate eras; while Caddy was with Benjy, and while Caddy wasn't around. This resembles the AD / BC timeline revolving around Jesus' life/death. The only problem being that we don't know what happened.
The Sound and the Fury is all one big puzzle, and as we read we gather bits and pieces and start to fit them together. However as we fit this puzzle together we realize that every piece we have been given fits one specific piece that we don't have yet; and that piece is Caddy's story.
Wednesday, March 25, 2015
About William Faulkner
William Faulkner was a well known American author who was born on September 25, 1897, in Mississippi. Arguably one of the greatest authors to ever come out of the South, Faulkner was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in Literature for his outstanding works. Much of his earlier pieces revolved around poetry, but as Faulkner became more and more developed as a writer, he began to write stories about life in the Deep South; these were the stories that would end up making him a wildly successful and popular author.
William Faulkner spent much of his early life moving from town to town in Mississippi; he moved twice before the age of 5 before finally settling down in Oxford, where he would live for a majority of the rest of his life. Faulkner learned most from the women in his life. His mother, grandmother, and "mammy" all influenced his education more than anyone else. His mother and grandmother were both very artsy; enjoying things like reading and art and photography. However, his mammy would instill the moral values that we see reflected in his writings.
Faulkner always seemed to have an interest in the South's history. Despite his lack of effort in school (Faulkner never finished high school, and briefly enrolled at Ole Miss before dropping out of there as well), he was fascinated by Mississippi's history, as well as stories of the KKK and the Civil War. This undoubtedly would guide him in his work for the rest of his life, as many of his books took place in the Southern United States. Its actually quite shocking that Faulkner became an author, and a successful one at that, because he never finished college and received a D in the only college-level English class that he ever took. In spite of his poor performance in school, his poems were consistently published in the school newspaper.
After he dropped out of college, Faulkner became obsessed with flying. He wanted to became a pilot in the United States' Air Force, however, since he was only 5'5, they refused to let him enlist. So he applied to the Canadian Air Force instead, which he did, in fact, get accepted to. However, he never actually saw any action during WWI despite common belief.
After his brief obsession with flying, Faulkner began focusing almost exclusively on his poetry before finally publishing his first book in 1927 after many of his poems and short stories were rejected by publishers. A little over a year later in 1928, Faulkner began work on The Sound and the Fury, which would become his most successful novel yet. Which would eventually lead to him winning the Nobel Peace Prize in Literature 11 years later. He would then go on to serve as a professor at the University of Virginia at Charlottesville from 1957 to 1958, Faulkner died in 1962 from a massive heart attack,
Faulkner's success story is one that is both surprising and heartwarming. To see a high school / college drop out not give up on their dreams and do so well as to win a Nobel Peace Prize is astounding, and few people can say that they have been as successful as William Faulkner even with a college education.
William Faulkner spent much of his early life moving from town to town in Mississippi; he moved twice before the age of 5 before finally settling down in Oxford, where he would live for a majority of the rest of his life. Faulkner learned most from the women in his life. His mother, grandmother, and "mammy" all influenced his education more than anyone else. His mother and grandmother were both very artsy; enjoying things like reading and art and photography. However, his mammy would instill the moral values that we see reflected in his writings.
Faulkner always seemed to have an interest in the South's history. Despite his lack of effort in school (Faulkner never finished high school, and briefly enrolled at Ole Miss before dropping out of there as well), he was fascinated by Mississippi's history, as well as stories of the KKK and the Civil War. This undoubtedly would guide him in his work for the rest of his life, as many of his books took place in the Southern United States. Its actually quite shocking that Faulkner became an author, and a successful one at that, because he never finished college and received a D in the only college-level English class that he ever took. In spite of his poor performance in school, his poems were consistently published in the school newspaper.
After he dropped out of college, Faulkner became obsessed with flying. He wanted to became a pilot in the United States' Air Force, however, since he was only 5'5, they refused to let him enlist. So he applied to the Canadian Air Force instead, which he did, in fact, get accepted to. However, he never actually saw any action during WWI despite common belief.
After his brief obsession with flying, Faulkner began focusing almost exclusively on his poetry before finally publishing his first book in 1927 after many of his poems and short stories were rejected by publishers. A little over a year later in 1928, Faulkner began work on The Sound and the Fury, which would become his most successful novel yet. Which would eventually lead to him winning the Nobel Peace Prize in Literature 11 years later. He would then go on to serve as a professor at the University of Virginia at Charlottesville from 1957 to 1958, Faulkner died in 1962 from a massive heart attack,
Faulkner's success story is one that is both surprising and heartwarming. To see a high school / college drop out not give up on their dreams and do so well as to win a Nobel Peace Prize is astounding, and few people can say that they have been as successful as William Faulkner even with a college education.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)