The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner is a modern classic. The story follows the decline of the Compson family, who were once a Southern aristocratic household in Jefferson, Mississippi. This book has been on my reading list for a long time, and I am glad I can finally tick it off.
It’s very difficult to summarise the story here, so I’ll give a short summary and mainly focus on the themes and characters. The book is divided into four chapters, and each chapter has one narrator. The book begins with Benjy Compson, who has severe intellectual disabilities, and he is an unreliable narrator. In this chapter, the stream of consciousness style is most chaotic because of the constant time shifts between past and present. Benjy experiences the world through sensory inputs and memory associations. His memories are triggered by smells and sounds, and he remembers his sister Caddy fondly. This section was tough to get through because even though I was interested, it made me feel lost, which makes sense of the character.
The second narrator is Quentin Compson. His section begins on the day he commits suicide. Quentin is a brilliant student, studying at Harvard, but he is also neurotic. He is so focused on ideals of the Southern culture of purity and honour; he cannot stand Caddy’s loss of virtue. Unlike Benjy, Quentin projects his father’s outdated ideals onto Caddy, and he feels like he failed to protect her. Caddy’s behaviour is rebellious as a result of the way these siblings grew up without actual emotional support and care from their parents. In fact, Quentin’s anguish is dismissed by his father when he makes false incest claims between him and Caddy to isolate her from the world’s judgment.
Jason Compson IV is the narrator of the third section. He runs everything related to their ruined household, and he is bitter and cruel. Jason resents Caddy because her divorce cost him a promised job in a bank. So, now he intercepts the money Caddy sends to her illegitimate daughter, Miss Quentin, to punish her. He is mentally and emotionally abusive towards Caddy’s daughter. The final section is dedicated to Dilsey, the family’s cook for a long time. Her prose is a lot more objective, and it shows her resilience. Jason is furiously pursuing Miss Quentin for stealing the money he was hoarding. She takes Benjy to the church for Easter, and she thinks about how she has seen the first and last of Compson’s destruction.
One of the core themes of the book is the decay of the American South. The Compsons represent the old aristocracy collapsing after the Civil War. There is a lack of effort to adapt to the modern world; instead, they cling to dead and irrelevant ideals. The theme of time and memory is represented through the characters. Benjy cannot distinguish between the past and the present, Quentin is desperate to stop time and escape trauma, and Jason is always running out of time. Meanwhile, Dilsey is the only one who is accepting of time in a spiritual way. In all this, Caddy is a tragic character. Although she doesn’t have her own section, she is defined by her brothers’ perceptions. She is the emotional thread of the story.
The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner is an interesting novel. It took me a while to get used to the stream of consciousness style. The story is engaging, but it is emotionally heavy. The stark difference in each character keeps you intrigued, and whether you agree or disagree with their actions, their thought process is clear for them. Overall, I liked reading this book.
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