Questioning Quentin

After reading through the second chapter of Faulkner's interesting novel I have to come to know the character Quentin a little better. Quentin is the brother to Caddy and Benji and while I initially thought Benji confusing I found Quentin to be just as puzzling. This chapter consists of many "time triggers", as we have come to call them in class, and as I first began the chapter it was difficult to decide whether we were in past or present tense but I eventually got the hang of it which helped with understanding this chapter a little better. Quentin has a pretty big obsession with time in and is actually obsessed with it. The chapter begins with him recalling a time his father gave him a watch and ends with him setting that watch down on his roommates nightstand before going to commit suicide.

We also come to realize that Quentin is obsessed with the purity of his sister, Caddy, and doesn't agree with the fact that she is marrying. He continually goes back and forth between times of his youth and present day addressing seemingly random things. He speaks of Caddy, the watch/time, boys playing with boats in the river, and a strange little girl who never speaks a word to Quentin yet he is very protective of her and wants to help her. It is almost as if the girl reminds Quentin of Caddy what with his need to want to help her and protect her. Quentin is not very stable mentally, he almost seems more tense and crazy than Benjy who is actually mentally impaired. Quentin is obsessed with time while Benjy is very laid back. The main point of this chapter seems to be pinpointing Quentin's mental state and has no real plot besides that. We see many things in it that happen but there is no central plot. The only consistent thing in this chapter would be the clock ticking away which also symbolizes Quentin's own life clock ticking away.

The reason this chapter is so confusing is because the way Quentin speaks is very sporadic and random. One minute we hear about the watch and his father and the next we hear of him walking along a bridge watching the boys in the river. It's this way that we find Quentin's life seems a rush to him by the long ramblings we receive from him. We also keep getting hints of Quentin saying he has committed incest with Caddy which we learn isn't true yet he keeps saying it as if he wishes it were true. Quentin isn't sexually attracted to his sister he is just obsessed with the idea of keeping her pure. He is horrified that she is marrying someone and he wants to keep her safe from everyone else. It's in this that Quentin and Benjy are alike; they both are beginning to see the loss of innocence in their sister. Benjy makes note of it by the repeated lines where she apparently doesn't smell like trees which Benjy equates to her youthfulness. With Quentin his confusing lines remind us of how he is angry with her but more so with the man she is marrying because it means she will no longer be pure and that is quite a big deal to Quentin.
             

Benji or Bust

Having read the first chapter of the Sound and the Fury I have found Faulkner to be very enticing in his story writing. While it is an enticing read it is also very hard to understand and to follow which is why I haven't enjoyed much of it thus far (hopefully this changes)! Benji is 33 years old or as Faulkner writes in the book, "three years old for thirty years"- he is mentally handicapped and we go through many time lapses in this first chapter which causes some confusion. I think Faulkner begins his book in a way that is disorienting so as to attract the reader. It's confusing yet intriguing all at once and you want to find out what happens next. Benjy lives in a very chaotic household. His family unit isn't very strong along with the relationships in them. Benji's mother is neurotic and we find Benji being raised by various caretakers some who look on him with pity. Benji's best and closest relationship is with his sister, Caddy. She cares deeply for her brother and genuinely wants to be with him whilst some the caretakers see him as a burden. Dilsey, a nanny for the family does show some compassion and genuine care for Benji. I think in a way Benji is a way to show the family's flaws and upsets. He isn't really a flaw in the world but this family (aside from a few) view him as one and his parents, who don't act as very good guardians, are slowly falling apart and by seeing this in Benji's point of view these upsets are highlighted.

Fun with Faulkner

I thought it was interesting how Faulkner never had a high school or college degree and struggled during the Great Depression yet he still wrote a book so renowned as The Sound and the Fury. It's also kind of ironic how he was so tiny, at 5'6, and is so widely known. One of my favorite parts of learning about Faulkner was actually how the spelling of his name changed from Falkner to Faulkner by a typing error in employee records. It's also pretty impressive that he was able to enroll in a college without receiving his high school diploma. Overall I think Faulkner sounds a lot different than other writers because he seemed so 'normal'. He didn't have a very good education and he drank a lot and yet he wrote very famous works that people still read today.