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.
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