Hello and welcome to the Discourse. 'The Sound and the Fury' is William Faulkner's fourth novel, published in 1929. It's known for its masterful use of stream-of-consciousness narrative. Faulkner recreates the thought processes of his characters, exploring the challenges of modernity encroaching on the Old South. The title and theme come from Macbeth's soliloquy, where he laments the pointlessness of life against the march of time and history. Macbeth implies that life is but a shadow of the past and that a modern man, like himself, is inadequately equipped and unable to achieve anything near the greatness of the past. Faulkner reinterprets this idea in his story of the three Compson brothers and their sister. The story is set between 1910-1928 and during these 18 years, the Compson family suffers financial ruin, loses the respect of the people of Jefferson, and many of them die tragically.
Characters of The Sound and the Fury:
The Compsons are a prominent family in Jefferson, Mississippi. Their ancestors helped settle the area and fought for the Confederacy during the Civil War. But since then, the Compsons have suffered a decline in both wealth and social standing.
Jason Compson III is an intellectual who falls into alcoholism. His wife Caroline Bascomb Compson is a self-absorbed hypochondriac who proves to be an ineffectual mother. Jason III takes the responsibility of parenthood but fails to be a good parent. Alcoholism leads him to his demise. Quentin Compson is their eldest son. He is a sensitive child who suffers from his mother’s coldness and develops deep relationship with his sister Candace. He is influenced by his father’s idealism and develops a romantic idea about purity and virginity which pushes him to celibacy. He is studious and his family sells a big portion of their land to send him to Harvard. When he comes to know about the promiscuous behavior of his sister, he feels confused and shattered. To protect his sister, he falsely claims that he had incestuous relationship with her. However, his father doesn’t believe him, rather says that virginity is not a big deal. This further shatters his romantic ideas and then he commits suicide. Candace Compson, or Caddy, is the sister of Quentin. Though she never appears actively in the novel, she is the central character. She is kind and motherly towards her brothers. She is a bubbly, imperious, and enthralling person who falls in love with someone and gets pregnant when she is just 18. To protect her family from ignominy, she marries Herbert Head, a banker. However, he comes to know that the child is not his and leaves her. She then disappears while leaving her child in care of her mother and brother Jason IV. As a responsible and caring mother, Candy continues to send money for the upkeep of her daughter.
Jason Compson IV is the younger brother of Quentin and Candace. Since his childhood, he has been a mean, isolated, and perverse person. The deteriorating situation of his family further pushes him to become a sadistic, anti-social, angry man who keeps cursing his sister Candace for depriving him of a job that Herbert Head promised to him. He resents the daughter of Candace whom he is supposed to protect and steals the money Candace sends for the upkeep of her daughter. Benjamin Compson or Benjy is the youngest brother of Candy. He is mentally disabled, an idiot, who fails to distinguish between past and present. He is unable to take care of himself or to speak clearly. He loves Candy too much who treats him with utmost affection and care. When she is forced to leave her home, he becomes lonely but continues to relive his memories with Candy. He cries whenever someone disturbs his daily routine. Quentin Compson II is the illegitimate daughter of Candy. Candy leaves her under the care of Jason IV and her mother who treat her badly. This turns Quentin into a rebellious child who turns promiscuous later. Dalton Ames is a young man and probably the father of Candy’s daughter. Dilsey is the black cook and servant of the Compson family who helps Jason III in raising the children. Roskus is Dilsey’s husband and house servant of the Compsons. Vershe, T.P., and Frony are Dilsey’s son and daughter. Luster is Frony’s son and the last caretaker of Benjy.
The novel is divided into four chapters or sections. The first three sections are first-person unreliable narratives by Benjy, Quentin, and Jason IV. The last section follows a third-person omniscient narration. It may be assumed that the fourth section is narrated by the black house servant Dilsey who kept a keen eye over the Compsons family since the beginning. The first three sections are narrated in a technique known as stream of consciousness, in which the writer takes down the character's thoughts as they occur to him, paying little attention to the chronology of events or continuity of the storyline.
Each section begins with a date on which the corresponding character offered his views about the happening. The novel begins with Benjy’s narration on April Seventh, 1928, followed by Quentin’s narration on June Second, 1910. The third section is narrated by Jason IV on April 6, 1928, while Dilsey’s third-person narration is made on April 8, 1928. Not much happens during these three days of April 1928 as the story covers 20 long years in the past.
Summary of The Sound and the Fury:
The story begins with Jason III and Caroline who belong to an influential and rich family of Jefferson, Mississippi. Jason III is a pioneer and intellectual who is highly respected in the city. However, since the end of the Civil War, the Compson family’s riches are dwindling. Jason III and Caroline fail to accommodate the changes the modern time brings. Caroline is a hypochondriac who often remains ill. Her four children Quentin, Candy, Jason IV, and Maury are raised by Jason III who turns an alcoholic. Their house cook, the black slave Dilsey takes care of the children. Her husband Roskus is the house guard of the Compson family. He is a superstitious person who believes the Compson family is cursed. Caddy is an intelligent and caring girl who loves her brothers and takes care of them. She is a bubbly, cheerful, and confident girl. Quentive is a sensitive child who misses his mother and gradually develops motherly feelings for Caddy. Jason IV is a stubborn and mean child whom everyone tries to avoid. Maury suffers slow growth and when he is five years old, Caroline realizes that he is mentally retard and changes his name from Maury to Benjamin or Benjy.
Jason III is an idealist who stresses traditions, reputation, and morals. Quentin is immensely affected by his father and develops strict monastic ideals, revering virginity, purity, and celibacy. As they grow old, Candy begins interacting with young men in the city which torments Quentin. When she confronts her about her promiscuous nature, Benjy begins crying while he fails to understand what is happening between Quentin and Candy. Quentin comes to know that Candy has a physical relationship with Dalton Ames whom he considers a bad guy and calls him a ‘blackguard’, while he still believes in white supremacy. He questions Candy if she loves Dalton but she refuses.
Candy gets pregnant and this further creates problems in the family. To protect her against their father’s wrath, Quentin claims that he had an incestuous relationship with her and he impregnated her. However, his father doesn’t believe him and reacts indifferently, saying that virginity is not that important. Quentin feels it is totally against the ideals that he developed while observing his father and he gets confused. His mother sells a big portion of their land to send him to Harvard for his higher studies and to keep him away from family troubles. Meanwhile, Candy decides to marry Herbert Head, a rich banker who is very interested in her. Jason IV supports this marriage because Herbert Head promises him a good job at the bank if Candy marries him. This marriage helps the family avoid the ignominy of Candy becoming an unmarried mother. However, Herbert Head realizes that the child is not his, and leaves Candy. Jason IV too is affected as he loses any hope of getting a good job and is forced to do menial jobs. Jason III dies of his alcoholism.
At Harvard, Quentin fails to get rid of the troubles from his home. One day, while walking, he meets a young girl asking for directions. He tries to help her but her brother confronts him and accuses him of trying to kidnap his sister and taking advantage of the lonely girl. Quentin’s friends from college come to rescue him. This accident further reminds him of his sister’s sin and he commits suicide by drowning himself in the Charles River just before the end of his first year at Harvard.
Left alone by Herbert Head, Candy comes back to Compson’s house with her daughter. Caroline agrees to take care of Candy’s infant daughter but disowns her. Leaving her daughter in the custody of Jason IV and her mother. In memory of her elder son, Caroline names her Quentine II. After his father’s death, Jason IV becomes the new head of the Compson family and begins taking care of all the finances which are already dwindling. Candy goes away and begins working. She regularly sends money to help Jason IV in the upbringing of her daughter. Her mother doesn’t wish to keep any contact with Candy and demands Jason IV burn the cheques sent by Candy. Jason says that he burnt all the cheques but keeps them and collects the money. Candy continues to send cheques and he continues to steal the money sent for the upbringing of Miss Quentin. He resents her and considers her the reason for the ill shape of his fortunes. His bad behavior and Caroline’s indifferent attitude turn Miss Quentin into a rebellious teenage girl. She notices that Jason secretively keeps a huge amount of cash in a wooden box in his room. She suspects that the money was sent by her mother. She begins bunking school and meeting a guy working with a traveling show. Jason IV tries to control her but his rude attitude further alienates Miss Quentin who decides to elope away with her lover. However, before running away, she steals the money that Jason stole from her mother.
Jason tries to catch her and asks for the help of local police but doesn’t wish to mention the money taken away from him. He tries to catch Miss Quentin alone but fails miserably.
Meanwhile, Luster takes Benjy on a carriage ride to the church for Easter service. However, he deliberately deviates from the path because Benjy begins crying loudly. As Jason returns back, he hears cries of Benjy and goes to check on him. He instructs Luster to take the carriage on the usual path and Benjy calms down.
William Faulkner added an Appendix in the novel describing the history of the Compson family and their fates after the novel. Caroline dies after a few months and after her death, Jason IV sends Benji to an asylum and sells the Compson house. Someone notices a picture of Caddy in a magazine and brings it to Dilsey who recognizes her but prefers to ignore her, saying, she is ‘safe’ away from Jefferson.
Macbeth's Soliloquy
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 soliloquy suggests that life is just a shadow of the past and that a man is not equipped enough and unable to achieve the greatness of the past. In such a case, Faulkner suggests that if a man does not choose to take his own life, as Quentin did, the other alternatives are to become a cynic like Jason IV, or an idiot like Benjy, an idiot, unable to see life as anything more than a meaningless series of images, sounds, and memories.
So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of American English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!
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