Sanity and Insanity in Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury
Quentin Compson, the oldest son of the Compson family in William Faulkner's novel, The Sound and the Fury, personifies all the key elements of insanity. Taking place in the imaginary town of Jefferson, Mississippi, the once high class and wealthy Compson family is beginning their downfall. Employing a stream of consciousness technique narrated from four points of view, Benjy, the "idiot child," Jason the cruel liar, cheat, and misogynist, Quentin the introvert, and the author narrating as a detached observer, Faulkner creates the situation of a completely dysfunctional family. Faulkner shows that failure to cope with the natural changes in the passage of time will drive one out of his mind. Despite what many critics believe, Quentin is indeed insane, as well as every other member of the Compson family, with the exception of Benjy.
Quentin is seriously mentally ill and does many stupid things to lead up to "serious harm," his suicide. His inability to live normally in society results in the drowning of himself. Quentin is an anachronism; he is out of his time and place. His passion in upholding the purity of womanhood is ironic in his questionable incest with his sister. Incest, notwithstanding, simply trying to make his father believe that such actions did occur is pure madness. Quentin is disgusted with life and feels that nothing can help anyone. He says, "It's not when you realise [sic] that nothing can help you- religion, pride, anything- It's when you realise [sic] that you don't need any aid" (80). When Quentin uses the word aid, he is referring to the daily things in life that help make life bearable. Things like: friends, family, compliments, and self-esteem. These are all types of aid. To think that no one needs any of these things to deal with the hardships in life is senseless. Certainly one must be lunatic to believe that nothing can help someone, that life is simply a free for all. As a Harvard student, Quentin should at least have some pride in his accomplishments. Certainly it was no accident for Faulkner to choose a suicidal man as the most psychopathic character for his novel.
But Wal-Mart’s care for us goes beyond that simple relationship. As many of us have seen if we have been to a Wal-Mart, they hire people who normally would not be able to get a job. The company knows that by broadcasting itself as positive and helpful in nature it can increase its revenue and in turn increase the amount of assistance it provides to us the consumer. “In 2004 Wal-Mart donated over $170 million. More than 90 percent of these donations went to charities in the communities served by Wal-Mart stores.’ Even more heartfelt than this, Wal-Mart was the leader in goods based relief efforts for victims of hurricane Katrina. “Walmart’s response to the hurricane was lauded even by its critics: it donated more than $20 million worth of merchandise, including food for 100,000 meals, and it promised jobs for all of its displaced workers.” And the first supply truck to arrive at the superdome was a Wal-Mart truck.
There is a fine line between sanity and insanity, a line that can be crossed or purposefully avoided. The books The Things They Carried and Slaughterhouse-Five both explore the space around this line as their characters confront war. While O’Brien and Vonnegut both use repetition to emphasize acceptance of fate, their characters’ psychological and internal responses to war differ significantly. In The Things They Carried, the narrator and Norman Bowker carry guilt as evidence of sanity. In Slaughterhouse-Five, Billy Pilgrim and the innkeepers carry on with life in order to perpetuate sanity. Both authors develop a distinct theme of responding in the face of the insanity of war.
The sickness of insanity stems from external forces and stimuli, ever-present in our world, weighing heavily on the psychological, neurological, and cognitive parts of our mind. It can drive one to madness through its relentless, biased, and poisoned view of the world, creating a dichotomy between what is real and imagined. It is a defense mechanism that allows one to suffer the harms of injustice, prejudice, and discrimination, all at the expense of one’s physical and mental faculties.
In conclusion, for many, Mexico is simply a country on a map. Even becoming a place that they wish to keep from and forget. For others like me, however; it was a place that hasn’t only reconnected me with my culture, but a home where I had the good fortune of reuniting me with my loved ones. Also, having had helped me come to terms with myself, my trip allowed me to find myself and recover what I had left
According to Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, Mexico has high scores of Power Distance, Uncertainty Avoidance, and Masculinity. We can tell from the scores that Mexico is a hierarchical society that people tend to work and live in orders, which means that there are levels among people and they try to fit into their own positions; people try to avoid unknowns and unwilling to take risks; and gap of values between men and women does exist in Mexico, competition, achievement, and success are emphasized in this society so people want to be the best instead of liking what they do. With low scores of Individualism and Long-term Orientation, Mexico is considered a collectivistic society with a normative culture. It emphasizes loyalty and strong relationships
When we hear discussions or read articles about drug wars, killings, and illegal immigration into the United States, many of us immediately think of Mexico. As a nation, Mexico is a much greater country than these commonly referred to issues. Mexico is a country with a broad history, deep family culture, and an economy fueled by oil and tourism. The United States Department of State (USDS) offers a broad range of information on countries outside the US, including Mexico. I found a wealth of information about Mexico through the USDS Background Note provided on their website located at www.state.gov. I will outline for you the key information found in this report, and others, related to the Mexican economy, culture, and more.
Shakespeare's tragic hero, Hamlet, and his sanity can arguably be discussed. Many portions of the play supports his loss of control in his actions, while other parts uphold his ability of dramatic art. The issue can be discussed both ways and altogether provide significant support to either theory. There are indications from Hamlet throughout the play of his mind's well being.
Through the interview process I was able to identify that a large amount of Mexican culture is based on relationships. These may be relationships with friends, relationships with family, or relationships with a church congregation as a spiritual family as well as a heavenly father. These relationships are what can make a network of people all who hold similar beliefs and customs leading to what makes up a culture.
William Faulkner uses multiple narrators throughout The Sound and the Fury to depict the life of Caddy Compson without telling the story from her point-of-view. Benjy, a mentally disabled 33 year old, Quentin, a troubled and suicidal Harvard student, and Jason, a racist and greedy man, each give their drastically different sides of Caddy’s story to create an incomplete chronicle of her life. Faulkner’s first chapter explores Caddy’s life through the silent narrator Benjy. As a result of Benjy’s inability to talk, much of how he describes the world is through his heightened sensory awareness. Benjy constantly repeats the fact that, which, to Benjy, symbolizes Caddy’s innocence (Faulkner 6). Later in the novel when, Benjy realizes that Caddy has lost the innocence Benjy once idolized and loved (Faulkner 40).
Mexico’s has a rich history, culture, economy, and government. Prior to the Spanish arrival, Mexico was habited by Indian groups with varying economic and political systems. The communities that lived in the north comprised of gatherers and hunters. However, agriculturalists populated the rest of the country. They were a dense population and were characterized by varying cultures (Miller, 2015). The county has developed tremendously since the Spanish conquest. The government has also changed continuously over the years.
The search for identity in Mexico has been a continuing exploration of many different cultures and realities. Although Mexico has an established democratic political system, cultural uniqueness has been in flux since the invasion of Spain in 1492. The Aztec culture was well instituted and was a direct decedent of the Olmec civilization that formed the Mexican identity over a thousand year reign. However over a two year attempt at genocide by the Spanish conquers the Mexicans have been struggling with an inability to recapture their roots ever since.
With that, Walmart are able to provides products that are beneficial to the environment and customers can be aware that how much impact the products they bought can do to the environment. Walmart buy products from more than 60,000 supplies from 70 countries. With the Sustainability Index, Walmart can make sure that the products bought from the suppliers do not harm the environment. When Walmart are able to reduce the waste products from the organization, they can cut the cost and provides lower prices for customers. By reducing the waste of the products, Walmart can save millions
Mexico remains to be a vibrant destination for many people around the world and is the peak of the majority of American tourism and is currently ranked 10th globally in international visitor arrivals. Mexico’s economy is the 13th largest in the world, and the 11th in purchasing power. The country has an evaluated Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of around $1.567 trillion and has a land area of 1.964375 square kilometers, with 12.66 percent of it being arable land. Mexico has a population of 108.627 million people, with a labor force of 46.99 million people.
In economic terms, Mexico is a country that was showing a lot of promise, but has taken steps backwards in recent years. Mexico’s recent history has been marked by periods of growth and increasingly favorable business conditions that have been followed by periods of political turmoil and decreasing confidence in the country’s economy.
The basis of insanity is upon M’Nagten Rules (1843) which set forward the principles of a defence when the “defendant had a defect of reason” or a “disease of the mind” and was not able to understand the nature of the act they did or did not know what they were doing was wrong. These three conditions must be proved for the defence of insanity to become available. Insanity is available for the all cases that require mens rea except for strict liability cases.