The Fall of the Compson Family in Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury That Faulkner’s title for his complicated The Sound and the Fury comes from Macbeth is common knowledge, and reading the novel only confirms Faulkner’s choice as sound. Certainly there is an almost constant desire to behead characters so as to quiet their almost constant “bellering.” The common theme critics identify in the novel is the terrible fall of the Southern aristocracy, yet I cannot help but think that there was not
The Sound and the Fury ends with Luster and Benjy's unfortunate journey to the cemetery to visit Mr. Compson and Quentin's tombs, a trip that Benjy makes every Sunday. The chaos that ensues in this scene proves to be an interesting analysis for the conclusion of the novel. It demonstrates to the reader that the Compson family is truly unable to escape its patterns of thought and behavior. This important theme of the novel is shown throughout the novel, through Quentin’s obsession with time and the
than others. From the beginning of the book, we see how time, the past and its meaning play a large role in each characters life. This fixation on the past and guilt from the past also gives way to the theme of family honor and how that plays into the aristocratic life of the Compson family. The first chapter is narrated by Benjy, a person with both physical and mental disabilities. This chapter was incredibly difficult to follow and took me nearly the entire chapter to really get a sense of what
black servant to the Compson family. Dilsey was present when the Compson family rose to power and remains during their downward spiral. Dilsey also represents a deeper meaning for the novel, she represents the modern era which is soon rising during the time, the progressive and liberal culture. She plays three different roles in the novel which relate to the Compson family and through these roles one can see the cultural change. Dilsey plays the authoritative role in the Compson house, she is seen
The Sound and the Fury This novel revolves around the rise and the fall of the aristocratic 19th century Southern Compsons that advocated conventional Southern values. In that dynamism and the muting family norms, the rival upsurge was the changing role of men and women. This is true, as men used to enjoy their authority, dominance, power, masculinity, valiancy, virtuous strength, determination, and courtliness over women and in the society while the role played by the women was similar to putting
two mother figures, Caroline Compson and Dilsey Gibson illustrates the role of race in Southern society. Caroline, the white, egocentric, self-indulgent, self-pitying hypochondriac is portrayed as superior to Dilsey, the loyal, stoic black servant who selflessly cares for the Compson family. Faulkner’s language depicts the inherent discrepancies in the value placed on the roles of Caroline and Dilsey. The formal tone of the narrators in addressing Caroline as “Mrs. Compson or mother infers her social
The Compsons Decline Impersonating a family possession can tear the minds of the family. William Faulkner’s book The Sound and The Fury is the story of a noble family’s inglorious fall from grace. The Compsons are a southern aristocratic family with numerous psychological problems. The story is told by four characters, all have a part to prove how they were involved in the shameful downfall of the once powerful Compson family. The novel illustrates to the readers how corruption among multiple family
Set in America during the 1920s, William Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury explores the life of a Southern family through the eyes of its youngest members: Benjy, Quentin, and Jason Compson. Throughout the novel, it is clear that the family struggles to adapt to a more modern time, attempting to hold firm to their beliefs in traditional values such as honor, strength, and chivalry for men, and grace and purity for women. This attachment to the past and inability to move forward ultimately leads to
Throughout his novel The Sounds And The Fury, William Faulkner continually develops Benjamin (Benjy) Compson as a character. At the beginning of the story, the reader is shown the difficulties Benjy faces as a result of his mental disabilities, yet his innocence can be seen through his stream of consciousness. Along with Benjy’s thoughts, one can also see the way in which Benjy’s family treats him and how they deal with Benjy’s issue. Over the course of Benjamin Compson’s narrative in The Sounds
The Compson family has three sons; Benjamin (Benjy), Quentin, and Jason, along with a daughter, Candace (Caddy). Benjy is the youngest son of the family and is mentally disabled, Quentin is the oldest son of the family and is the only child of the family who is trying to find some meaning of life, and Jason is the son who can care less about love and family. Caddy on the other hand, is the most important character in the novel, whose views are shown less, and others views on her are shown alot more
Mississippi family, which included a governor, a colonel in the Confederate army, and notable business pioneers. Through his experiences from growing up in the old South, Faulkner has been able to express the values of the South through his characters. William Faulkner's Absalom, Absalom offers a strong condemnation of the mores and morals of the South. Faulkner's strong condemnation of the values of the South emanates from the actual story of the Sutpen family whose history
listen to three brothers: Benjy, Quintin and Jason, discuss their lives. We discover the inner workings of their home lives. The narratives disclose that their mother, Caroline Compson is a neglectful, hypochondriac. Mrs. Compson is shown to be a very self centered woman who really doesn't harbor any affection for her family and by this lack sends some of them to find mothering from a different source. “ How can I control any of them when you have always taught them to have no respect for me and my
and the Fury and As I Lay Dying, Faulkner symbolizes the constant internal presence of Addie Bundren and Caddy Compson despite Addie’s death and Caddie’s sacrifices as their disappearances disrupt normality. Even after death, Addie is able to “exists” through the connections of an animal. After learning that Addie wishes to be buried in Jefferson with her ancestors, the Bundren family embarks on a journey to fulfill her dying wish. The youngest child of Addie, Vardaman is stunned at the death of
Sex as a mode of escape from the insufferable myth of the Belle repeats when Miss Quentin, Caddy’s daughter, escapes her violent uncle Jason by climbing down the same tree years later to join her boyfriend. Unlike Caddy who is pushed out of her family, Miss Quentin actively seeks her own escape. She is a rebel who is sexually promiscuous and takes revenge on her oppressive uncle by reclaiming the money her mother Caddy has been sending her. Miss Quentin eventually escapes the myth of the Belle by
The Sound and the Fury is a compelling story that shows different aspects of a family that is slowly deteriorating. William Faulkner made it clear that one of the most important aspects of this novel is the theme of loss. Faulkner gave the views of four different individuals who all had one main obsession, their sister Caddy, who in a way symbolizes the loss that each person endures and the deterioration of the south. Caddy, who did not have a part in the novel to tell her side of the story,
turning once-fertile agricultural lands of mid-America into virtual wastelands, forced thousands of destitute farmers to pack their families and belongings into their cars in search of agricultural work in central California. Years of degradation stemming from the end of slavery beginning at the conclusion of the Civil War destructed the old southern aristocratic families. These different external influences impact on the characters is seen in John Steinbeck’s novel, The Grapes of Wrath, and William
defines ideas about family. Numerous things impact family dynamics, for instance: birth order, spiritually, change, personalities, race, and sexual orientation. When one is determining a family’s dynamic they must look at the big picture to fully grasp what makes a family the way they are. One cannot truly understand the family dynamics of someone until they put themselves in their shoes. “That Evening Sun Go Down”, “Soldier’s Home”, and “A Good Man is Hard to Find” contain family dynamics that help
The Contrasting Themes and Structure of William Faulkner's The Bear At first, William Faulkner's The Bear, seems to be a story about the decline of an old bear and the wilderness he represented. Oddly, it is possible to omit the fourth chapter of The Bear and still have a complete and less confusing story. Although sandwiched in between the third and fifth chapters, the fourth chapter is almost wholly independent. For the purpose of this analysis, I will refer to chapters one, two, three,
"[M]otherhood was invented by someone who had to have a word for it because the ones that had the children didn 't care whether there was a word for it or not," Addie Bundren reflects from beyond the grave in As I Lay Dying (171). Though she can hardly be considered the paragon of motherhood, Addie 's words have a degree of truth to them which can be interpreted in more than one way. Perhaps mothers don 't need a word for motherhood because their experience is one that transcends language. Or
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