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William Faulkner was an American short story and novel writer who won the Nobel prize for literature in 1949 for "his powerful and artistically unique contribution to the modern American novel". William Faulkner was born on September 25, 1897, and died on July 6, 1962. He was 52 years old when he won the Nobel prize for literature in 1949. He belonged to an upper-middle-class family of the South though his father did not belong to the old feudal cotton industry. William Falkner became the most celebrated writer of American literature and one of the best writers of Southern literature. Initially, Faulkner tried poetry and didn’t write any short story or novel till 1925. In these early days, he followed the Victorian American literary style. In 1925, he moved to New Orleans where he came in touch with bohemian writers and artists.
First Novel: Soldier’s Pay
During his days in New Orleans, he turned his attention to prose writing, and gradually, he mastered the modernist approach of writing. He was influenced by another modernist author Sherwood Anderson who helped him in the publication of Faulkner’s first novel Soldier’s Pay on 25th February 1926. Soldier’s Pay tells the story of an aviator (air force pilot) who returns after the conclusion of the First World War. The story is a love triangle. The aviator returns injured from the war and his injury causes blindness to him. He is escorted by a veteran of the war and is cared for by a widow whose husband was killed in the war. The widow starts growing close to him while he faces the conflict as he was already engaged to another girl before he went to the war. His fiancee on the other hand wasn’t that loyal to him and had some affairs during his absence. The widow attains a strong desire to break his engagement so that she may marry the aviator herself. Soldier’s Pay was not a commercial success and it appeared as if it was written in a similar writing style as that of his contemporary authors like Ernest Hemmingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Sartoris: Yoknapatawpha County
Sartoris was the third novel of William Faulkner that was published in 1929. It was the first novel in which Faulkner mentioned the fictional Yoknapatawpha County in Mississippi state. His mentor Sherwood Anderson advised him to write about Mississippi, his native place. Faulkner invented a fictional county Yoknapatawpha in Mississippi and filled it with fictional people, his characters, some were drawn from real life while some others were based on mythopoeic characterization. Faulkner continued to base all his future stories and novels in the same fictional Yoknapataapha county of Mississippi. One may say that Yoknapatawpha was to William Faulkner what Malgudi was for R.K Narayan, the Indian author. The story is about an aristocratic southern family on the verge of its decay after the end of the First World War. The Sartoris Family of Jefferson, Mississippi is going through an abnormally lean patch after the death of the patriarch Colonel John who fought for Confederate cavalry during the civil war. His sister Virginia Du Pre (Aunt Jenny) takes care of her son Bayard Sartoris (Old Bayward) and her grandson Bayard Sartoris (Young Bayward) along with his twin brother John Sartoris. Young Bayard and John go to the First World War as fighter pilots. After the war Young Bayward returns while John dies during war. Young Bayard feels that he is responsible for his brother’s death and he is haunted by it. His nervousness pushes him into self-destructive behavior and he often drives recklessly. During such reckless driving, he meets an accident. He gets seriously injured and the accidents lead him to meet Narcissa Benbow, a young girl whom he marries. Despite his promises to behave responsibly, he continues to follow self-destructive behavior, and soon he meets another accident while driving with Old Bayard. Old Bayard dies of a heart attack during the accident. Young Bayard again blames himself for the death and vanishes from Jefferson while leaving his pregnant wife with Aunt Jenny. Narcissa gives birth to his son and on the same day, Young Bayard dies while test-flying a new experimental airplane.
Faulkner wrote this novel by the title Flags in the Dust in 1926 but he failed to get any publisher for it. Later on, one of the publishers agreed to publish the novel albeit it had to be heavily edited by someone other than Faulkner himself. At last, his agent Ben Wasson was chosen to edit the novel and the edited version was published as Sartoris in the year 1929.
The Sound and The Fury
William Faulkner began writing his fourth novel The Sound and The Fury in 1928 and it was published in 1929 after Sartoris. However, Faulkner denied agreeing to any editing work for this novel. Initially, The Sound and The Fury proved to be a commercial failure. But in 1933, after the publication of his sixth novel titled Sanctuary, which proved to be his first commercial success, The Sound and The Fury also gained momentum and soon came on the list of most successful American novels. In 1998, The Sound and The Fury gained a sixth place on the list of 100 Best English Language Novels of the 20th-century.
The story is again about a southern aristocratic family on the verge of decay in the aftermath of the Civil War and the First World War.
The novel is divided into four sections and each section offers a different narrative from the perspective of different characters. The first narrative offers events of April 7, 1928, along with consequent thoughts and memories of Benjy, the youngest Compson sibling. The second section offers insight into Quentin Compson, Benjy’s elder brother. The narrative begins on June 2, 1910, and leads to the events resulting in the suicide committed by Quentin. The third section offers the point of view of Jason Compson, Quentine’s younger cynical brother. It begins a day before the events of the first section, that is, on April 6, 1928.
The last section is a Third-Person Omniscient narrative primarily offered by Dilsey, one of the black servants of the Compson family. She primarily talks about her relationship with Jason and Miss Quentin Compson, daughter of Caddy, elder sister of Quentin. Dilsey contemplates the thoughts and deeds of all Compson siblings. Throughout all the four sections, Caddy or Candice Compson, the second child of the Compson family, younger sister of Quentin appears to be the central character without a voice. The whole story seems to be revolving around her while she is only described by the other characters, never appearing inactive narrative.
Characters: Jason Compson III is the father of the Compson siblings. He is a pessimistic alcoholic. His cynical views torment his son Quentin. Caroline Bascomb Compson is his wife. She is a self-absorbed lady who doesn’t have time even for her kids. She suffers neurotic insecurity over her Boscomb family name that has been undermined by her brother Maury’s adulterous behavior. She treats her mentally disabled son Benzy cruelly and selfishly. While she has no idea of the needs of any of her kids, she foolishly showers all her affection and favors to Jason just because he takes on her family's side. Quentin Compson III is the oldest child of the Compson family. He is a passionate person who is too attached to his sister Caddy. His father’s pessimistic behavior and his inability to cope with his sister’s sexual promiscuity force him to the verge of neurotic depression and ultimately he commits suicide.
Candice Compson, also known as Caddy is the second child of Jason and Caroline. She is a headstrong girl full of love and care for her brothers. She is the only one who loves Benjy, her retarded youngest brother. She is the central character of the novel as all her three brothers are obsessively attached to her. Caddy feels some guilt over her promiscuous nature as it upsets Benjy whom she loves. However, she doesn’t approve of Quentine’s objection to her promiscuous behavior as she doesn’t adhere to the Southern moral code of virginity. Unlike Quentin, she gets rid of the tragic captured world of the Compson family. Caddy is the mother figure for both Quentin and Benjy. Benjamin Compson, nicknamed Benzy was named Maury at his birth. By the time of his fifth birthday, it was clear that he is mentally disabled. Nobody except Caddy truly cared for him. His mother despised him. He is considered an ‘idiot’ with no sense of time and morality.
Dilsey Gibson is the matriarch of the servant family serving Compsons. She has three kids, Versh, Frony, and T.P. Luster is her grandchild, Frony’s son. They serve as Benjy’s caretaker throughout his life. Luster occasionally shows concern for Benjy out of obligation.
Miss Quentin Compson is the daughter of Caddy living with the Compson family as Herbert divorces Caddy after knowing that she was already pregnant before her marriage. Compson family disowns Caddy while taking responsibility for Miss Quentin. Like her mother, she turns out to be headstrong, wild, and promiscuous.
Summary of The Sound and The Fury
The novel has no ordered chronology as it has been written in a stream of consciousness narrative style.
First Section - April 7th, 1928 - The novel begins as Benjy, the mentally disabled member of the Compson family accompanies Luster who is trying to search for a quarter to go and watch the circus that night. Meanwhile, Benjamin starts remembering the fond memories of his past most of which were in presence of Caddy, his elder sister. He remembers how headstrong and adventurous she was who often attempted to defy orders. He specifically remembers a day when his grandmother (Damuddy) died. He was just 3 years old then. As the funeral was going on in the house, all children were sent outside to avoid them seeing the sad situation. However, Caddy decided to have a peak anyhow. She climbed over a tree to look into the parlor windows. As she climbed up, her three brothers looked up at her. Benjamin noticed her panties were soiled with mud. Those muddy panties suggest the promiscuous behavior that Caddy will later develop. Gradually, as the children grew up, Caddy adopted more wild behavior. Benjamin was very close to her and he often found her smell very sweet like that of trees. However, one day he noticed a sudden change in her smell. As she lost her virginity, she lost that smell of fresh trees after rain. Benjamin, despite being mentally disabled, realized that she is no longer a virgin as if he had a sixth sense. Benjamin loves order and despises changes. He howls when the order of his day is changed.
Second Section – 1910 – The second section describes the events of the day when Quentin decided to end his life. His father sold a major piece of land to pay the tuition fees for his admission to Harvard. He was very attached to his sister Caddy. He remembers how he came to know about her promiscuous behavior and tried to stop her. But she never listened. He remembers her affair with Dalton Ames to whom she lost her virginity and became pregnant with his child. He remembers how pensively he informed his father. But to his surprise, his father pessimistically suggested that it is one of the weaknesses of women and he should not worry too much about it. But he couldn’t give up his Southern ideals. To save Caddy from social ignominy and punishment, he claimed that he had an incestuous relationship with Caddy. He believed that having a promiscuous relationship with strange boys is worse than being in an incestuous relationship. However, nobody believed him and Caddy denied it. His father was indifferent to Caddy’s promiscuity and suggested that Quentin should go to Harvard as soon as possible. Quentin was too ashamed of his sister’s adventures and his father’s indifference to what she did. He remembers how Caddy was adamant to marry as soon as possible to anyone before she becomes a mother. She married Herbert Head but when she gave birth to her child, Herbert realized that he is not the father and divorced Caddy. Quentin is neurotically obsessed with heritage, family honor, and sin.
Presently, Quentin meticulously prepares for his suicide. He puts clean clothes after packing all his belongings and heads out of the town. He bought two flat irons to weigh him down the water as he goes towards the riverside. Meanwhile, he sees a girl and helps her out. The girl starts following him to the riverside until her brother comes to find her and accuses Quentin of kidnapping her. Later on, Quentin decides to meet his friends who are in town for a picnic. He engages in an argument with one of his friends as he confuses his rantings about girls with those of Dalton Ames. He is beaten up by his friends and as his clothes get soiled, he goes back to Cambridge to clean his clothes. He returns back to the same town and heads off to the river to drown himself.
Section 3 – April 6, 1928 – The third section belongs to Jason Compson, the third child of the Compson family. Since his childhood, he is a straightforward character with a strong desire for material wealth. He was happy when Caddy decided to marry Herbert Head as it offered him a chance to get a highly paid job under Herbert. However, when Miss Quentin Compson took birth, Herbert realized that she is an illegitimate child and divorced Caddy. Jason despises Miss Quentin as he believes he lost a good opportunity because of her. Jason appears to be a sadist. His section begins with the sentence “Once a bitch always a bitch, what I say.” Unlike Quentin, he doesn’t worry too much about lost heritage and the honor of the family. He lives in present and in a way manages the house to sustain. His sections offer minimum flashbacks and are chronologically most ordered. Jason’s character is significant for his cruelty, complaints, and conspiracies. He is a racist and miss treats Dilsey, her children, and her grandchild.
In the third section, we learn about Miss Quentin and how she is following the footsteps of her mother towards sexual freedom. Jason is as preoccupied with Miss Quentine’s emerging sexuality as Quentin used to be with Caddy’s. He tries to control her and keep a strong vigil on her. We learn about Quentin's suicide and we also learn that Benjy was brutally castrated to prevent him from fathering any impaired child. After being divorced, Caddy was banished from Compson's house for her promiscuity. She started living in a neighboring county. She felt responsible for her daughter and started sending money for her upkeep. However, her mother had forbidden her name to be mentioned in Compson's house and so did she forbade her money. Jason didn’t agree with his mother as he wanted to have the money Caddy used to send. So he devised a plan. He used to encash the cheque sent by Caddy while offering a forged cheque to his mother. Mrs. Caroline Comson used to burn that forged cheque believing that she avoided any connection with Caddy. Jason, on the other hand, continued to collect and use the money sent by Caddy for himself.
The third section begins on April 6, 1928, as Jason goes to drop Miss Quentin at her school. She is used to skipping school and sleep around with random guys. Jason tries to stop her misadventures. Later on, he comes to know that Miss Quentin again skipped school and was seen running off with a musician working for the circus.
Section 4 – April 8th, 1928 – This section offers a third-person omniscient narrative. It continues to follow Jason while offering the insights of Dilsey, one of the black servants of the Compson family. She is devoted to taking care of Benjy. She claims that she knows everything from beginning to end. Meanwhile, Jason comes to know that Miss Quentin has stolen all the money he collected through Caddy’s cheques. Furthermore, Miss Quentin took some of his own money too. Jason is peeved as he recently lost a big amount in the stock market too. He goes to the police but couldn’t complain about the money he embezzled from Caddy. But he informs about the theft of his own money. The police are indifferent and unwilling to help Jason. At last, he decides to go search for Miss Quentin himself. He reaches the circus where the workers confront him. The owner of the circus informs him that Miss Quentin and the musician have left the town. Jason continues to search for them. He finds Miss Quentin and the musician together but before he could catch them, they run away while puncturing the tires of his vehicles so that he may not follow. He returns to the town.
Meanwhile, Dilsey heads to church, where a very unimpressive pastor manages to deliver an absolutely astounding sermon. Dilsey starts to cry. She recognizes Quentin’s disappearance for what it is – the end of the Compson family.
At the end of the section, Luster is taking Benjy to the graveyard. When Luster takes a wrong turn and deviates from the course through which T.P used to take Benjy to the graveyard. Benjy starts to howl. Jason reaches the spot at the same time. He best knows how to placate Benjy who is hysterically sobbing with a violent outburst. Jason slaps Luster and turns the carriage to the right path and hits Beny while trying to silence him. He tells Luster never to turn off the route Benjy is used to taking, The slap breaks Benjy’s flower stalk and Jason shouts Shut Up! Benjy suddenly becomes silent. Luster turns around to look at Benjy. Luster observes that as the carriage comes on the decided path, Benjy observes the same ordered trees, facades, doors, windows, and street signs and becomes comfortably silent. Benjy loves order.
Thus the novel ends as everything reaches order. The title of the novel was inspired by a soliloquy of William Shakespeare’s tragic drama Macbeth. In Macbeth, Act V, Scene V, Macbeth learns about the suicide of his wife and says -
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.
The novel also begins with the narrative of Benjamin the idiot and ends with Benjamin being silenced as he observes the familiar order.
This is it for today. We will continue to discuss Modern American English Literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards.
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