This novel is and has been from the start about Caddy. The book begins with Benjy who hears Caddy's name at the gold course and begins to bellow and cry. Although Caddy is not a narrator and has no chapter, she is the focus of the book. All four narrator's are connected to Caddy in some way. For Benjy, Caddy was the only one who really loved and cared about him. For Quentin, it is almost as if he and Caddy are one. They are very close. For Jason, Caddy is his "downfall." She is the reason for his disgrace and his lot in life (so he tells himself.) And Dilsey, well Dilsey raised Caddy. She is the second mother of Caddy. The book centers around Caddy, her actions, her choices, and how she affects others. The book starts off very jumbled and slowly makes it way to the traditional narration style's in Dilsey's chapter. The chapters are arranged in the specific order to show the reader the whole story. Slowly, but surely, the truth is revealed to the reader. The four chapter's represent the old south, with Caddy representing the new south. The unbiased beginning of Benjy allows the readers to figure it out. Then we are thrown into Quentin and Jason's stream of consciousness.Quentin's obsession with the past and his final demise at his own hands shows the wrongness of the past and how you can not live stuck in the past. It represents how the old south must move forward. Jason, himself, is a representation of the old south. Then the book is finished by Dilsey who can show us the truth. The book is telling us that progress is inevitable and that the future lies in those few are strong enough to not fear progress, Caddy (and Quentin the girl.) Over all, despite the confusion and the endless list of questions, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Also, for those of you who didn't go to the holocaust thing tonight, you missed out on an excellent movie and some delicious, home-made, chicken-noodle soup.

I'm going to have to say. Jason is a *cough, cough* to put it nicely. Such a resentful, hateful JERK! He makes me want to punch him. He treats nobody with respect or kindness. Not Dilsey, his employer, any of the African American workers, Quentin, Caddy, not even his own mother (who should always be treated with respect.)
These are the reasons Jason is a jerk:
1) He steals the money meant for Quentin (from Caddy.) Then lies to his mother about it and has her burn the false checks. He is stealing from Quentin and Caddy.
2) He won't even let Caddy see her daughter, until she offers to pay (a bribe of a substantial amount,) then he only lets her see Quentin for about 5 seconds before driving off.
3) He is so mean to Benjy. In the first chapter he cuts up Benjy's dolls purely out of spite. Throughout his chapter he talks about how he should just send Benjy somewhere else.
4)  His mother thinks he is an angel, which makes it even more awful considering that he REALLY is not a good guy, at all.
5) He threatens Quentin and chases her when she is with some guy. NONE of his business, if you ask me.
6) He may be the most resentful person ever. He is such a self centered little poo-head! He thinks he should be entitled to the world. He is so jealous. Jealous that Quentin went to Harvard and that he actually has to work for a living (poor, poor, poor Jason. Crying on the inside.)
7) He is cruel! His words always carry a sting and he never says anything nice. He uses his quick wit to put people down.
8) He blames Caddy for him not getting a good job. (When Caddy was marrying that one guy, Jason was promised a potion in the bank that the one guy owned. He would have gotten the job if Caddy hadn't gotten pregnant with Dalton Ames. He is pissed off about this. However he wouldn't have gotten the job because of anything he did, no good qualities or training, he would have gotten the job solely on family connections. When it was broken off and he had to work in a little grocery store in town, he blames Caddy.) It's not Caddy's fault he can't get a good job based on his own qualifications.
9) He is just plain and simple a brat. Nothing more needs to be added or said. Brat pretty much sums it up.
Thanks for reading my little tirade/vent right there. Throughout this chapter I was very angry. It was hard to read solely because I hated Jason so much the whole time. Faulkner does an excellent job in making his readers hate Jason. What a loathsome character!

I personally think that Quentin's chapter was even harder to read than Benjy's. I payed special attention to the things Quentin mentioned again and again. One was his obsession with time. Quentin counts the hour bells and constantly checks or asks for the time. I found this very interesting in comparison with Benjy where time is irrelevant. However just as Benjy lives both in the present and the past, so does Quentin. As Quentin's chapter progresses time becomes more and more befuddled. Quentin spends more and more time living in the past and quickly losses contact with the present.

I also noticed Quentin's longing for his father's approval. Quentin constantly talks about his father's advice, words, and actions. This leads to one specific piece of advice his father gives. Something about how, put simply, a man can't be a man and a virgin. SO then Quentin tells his father he has committed "incest" with Caddy. It is unclear if he really has or he is trying to protect Caddy. (because she had sex with other men who she wasn't married to and had a child.) Quentin maybe pretending to have incest, but I'm honestly not sure. Whether or not Quentin committed incest to save his reputation or save Caddy, Caddy does not like it. She refuses Quentin's attempts to help.

Caddy, to Quentin and Benjy, is the most important person in their lives. Caddy teaches Quentin how to treat women and Quentin refers to her as "his sister." However his sister theme runs throughout his life. He constantly acts men "If they have a sister?" And he thinks of all women as a sister to someone (which I quite like. The idea that everyone is someones sister or brother, mother or father, son or daughter is very poignant and could solve a lot of problems if we remembered that fact.)That's why he has to protect all the women.

Quentin's narration suggest that he is not in a good state of mental health. He is undone at the edges. Fraying quickly. Caddy's rejection and his overall personality make him quite unstable. (He actually reminded me of Haze from Wise Blood. (the way he talks and acts)) His sense of self also gets jumbled around. Often it is hard to discern who is speaking or why. Or even what time period. In Quentin's loss of time, he losses parts of himself. Quentin's flow of emotions, words, sights, scents, etc. gave a confused but important view of Quentin as a character. Quentin's chapter was so confusing and haphazardly arranged to show how Quentin is also like that. Over all I found this chapter confusing, yet compelling. It answered a few of my questions, but left me with dozens of unanswered and new questions, too. 

Faulkner starts his chapter with Benjy, who is mentally disabled. Faulkner starts the chapter with Benjy for a couple of reasons. A really interesting one is that in Benjy's chapter, the time switches constantly. It goes from past to present to second past, etc. A bit confusing, yes, but it also brings up an interesting idea: that time is insignificant. Mainly this applies to Benjy, however it could also be an engaging thought about life as a whole. Benjy also starts the book becasue seeing things through his eyes make the story unbiased. Benjy has no opinions (about most things) and his narration allows the reader to make their own conclusions about certain characters without being influenced by the character who is narrating. Benjy also symbolizes innocence, complete and utter innocence. His chapter gives us a contrast to the other characters. The other characters are by no means innocent, but Benjy is the personification of innocence. His complete innocence is so different from all the other characters that it is startling. His chapter is started with in Faulkner's book for all the reasons listed above, and probably a whole lot more that I'm not sure about.

Benjy could be fulfilling a symbolic role. He is 33 and it is the week before Easter. This is intentional, however I don't know if that makes Benjy a christ figure. Ineresting thought, though. Could he be salvation in disguise unbeknowst to the family? The only "clean" (to take a phrase from Haze Motes) one there. He is the only uncorrupt person in his family, the only innocent one. The saying goes "innocence is bliss." (It might actually be ignorance. I'm not sure. However ignorance and innocence can both be applied to Benjy and can also be related.)

Poor Benjy is viewed as the "curse" on the family. He is the stain on the 'great' line of ancestors. That is why his mother changes his name. She can't bear to have him have the name of his most noble (and also alcholic) uncle from her proud lineage! That would be a disgrace to even associate Benjy with her line. This is a horrible way of thinking about things, I know. However it is very southern. His moher views Benjy's disabilities as her fault, suffering form some unnown sin. I love how Benjy's view on the family is so clear from opinion's. No prejuidices, just hard facts. There is no favortism or any sugar coating of facts. Benjy is a very reliable narrator because he can't twist things to be seen in a different light. He is merely a reporter.

Benjy longs for consistency. He can't comprehend change and so he wants everything to stay the same as it was. The past is a happier time for Benjy, becasue of Caddy's presence, and so he wants things to stay the same as in the past. The important things for him, like Caddy and his comfort items (old slipper, fire, etc.) make him feel safe when he can't understand the new things. Also without the help of Caddy's guidance, Benjy feels lost. He doesn't want change becasue stability is all he can understand by himself. Change is scary when you can't understand why, or how. Safety lies in order for Benjy.

March 24, 2015
First Post

William Faulkner was born pretty long ago, 1897, more than a hundred years ago. However he was alive during World War 1 so I guess not TOO long ago. The Sound and the Fury was his fourth book and his most popular. (Why I could never be a writer: usually you have to write 4 books before one of them is any good and I just don't have the patients to write four books before I'm appreciated!) Well anyhow, he was a southern man and wrote almost exclusively with his stories based somewhere in the south. He made up Yoknapatawpha County, (no comment on pronunciation.) This place has everything the real south has, persecuted blacks, poor whites, extremely rich whites, the odd farmer or two and merchants out for the towns money. Faulkner likes to experiment with his writing (maybe he should have been a scientist and saved himself a lot of trouble and inky fingers.)

He has a Nobel prize for literature under his belt, pretty respected guy in the literary world. Although his speech is inspiring although hard to understand cause of his accent. However it really gets at the readers heart. He says it was not for glory and least of all for profit." Which is how all works of art should be made! The explains how the fear of death from bombs has clouded the hearts of all young women and men and they have forgotten what life is really about and how to live it. In their fear they have "forgotten the problems of the human heart." These must be relearned! The universal truths are the only important ones (love and honor and pity and pride and compassion and sacrifice.) He has got his heart in the right place! Man shouldn't just survive, he should thrive! (says Faulkner, "man will not merely endure: he will prevail"because man has got spirit and compassion, two very important things.) He asks the artists, the poets, the writers, to lift up there fellow human's heart y reminding them, again and again of the courage, hope, love, joy and pride of MAN! The poets voice does not merely record the proceedings, it "props" people up. It is one of "the pillars to help" man thrive! I mean how inspirational is that to young artists and writers (maybe I'll be a writer after all. Just because of that uplifting speech.)

Little background; Faulkner dropped out of high school and started college instead, which I'm pretty sure is impossible now, mores the pity. I'm also sure almost every person reading this wants to do exactly that, just skip the whole messy bunch of high school (sounds pretty good to me, too.) He also tried to enlist in the military, but got turned down, so he went to Canada. (smart guy). He really like planes and flying them (and i mean who doesn't?) Until, that is, his brother dies. He also, randomly, kind of looks like a bohemian poet (fun fact.) Faulkner is a pretty funny guy, actually. However we may not get it cause we don't really get southern humor (it is certainly different than ours...) So I am just preparing for some interesting jokes that I probably won't get. However, at least he is trying to amuse us.


In conclusion, I really like his quote, “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.” I think this is very true and something to remember in our daily lives as well. And I am, kind of, looking forward to this book. With a title like the Sound and the Fury, what could go wrong. (I hope I didn't just jinx myself.)