Family and Human Relationships in The Sound and Fury by William Faulkner

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Family and Human Relationships in The Sound and Fury by William Faulkner

William Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury is a novel about a family ties and relationships. Within the novel Faulkner examines family and human relationships and reactions. He presents a southern dysfunctional family, which believes that it has been plagued by problems. The basis for character, plot and title comes from an excerpt from Shakespeare's Macbeth:

Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow

Creeps in this petty pace from day to day

To the last syllable of recorded time;

And all our yesterdays have lighted fools

The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!

Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,

That struts and frets his hour upon the stage

And then is heard no more. It is a tale

Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,

Signifying nothing. (ACT V, SC V)

This quotation sets the stage for most of the novel. The development of the novel and the relationships within the novel takes shape from segments derived from the latter quotation. Faulkner creates all of the characters in the form of Shakespeare's player. He then adds unique qualities that individualize each character. Each character views things differently then the rest of the family. Even the three brothers obtain and form different opinions about things, especially in regard to their opinions toward Caddy. The novel is split into four different perspectives. Three out of these four are written in the opinions of the brothers. In all of these viewpoints Caddy seems to be the central idea. The first story is told through the eyes of Benjy. Benjy is the least complex character within the novel. His relationship in regard to Caddy is simple and innocent. Benjy is...

... middle of paper ...

...give you fifty dollars.'… 'I'll give you a hundred'… 'Sure I'll do it.' (Pg. 204)

The extent of Jason's love of money is boundless, to the point where he would drop all of his standards and lie to his mother in order to get more of it. His opinions, although, were unchanged by her contributions. However, now he had a use for her and for Quentin (girl) and didn't want to let either one of them go.

Overall, the opinions of the three brothers toward Caddy varied greatly, but all had negative connotations involved. In the end of both Quentin and Benjy's perspectives, their opinions of Caddy are negative. Caddy is the cause of their pain, or discomfort. For Jason Caddy was always held in the lowest regards and his opinion remained unchanged. Each brother obtained different opinions of Caddy, but all of them held strong similarities to each other.

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