The Sound and the Fury Chapter 2 (June Second, 1910)
Just as we are about to get comfortable with the narrator Benjy in chapter one, Faulkner pulls the rug from under our feet and switches gears to a new narrator: Quentin Compson. (Who wants their readers to actually understand what they're reading, right?) Another change brought with this chapter is also the shift in time setting; it is now 1910, 18 years prior to the Benjy chapter.
The chapter starts off with the reader waking up along with Quentin as he rises from his sleep and checks the time on his Grandfather's watch (not the phone like most do); it was "between seven and eight oclock and then I [Quentin] was in time again, hearing the watch" (Faulkner 50). Immediately, a difference among Benjy and Quentin should be noted: Quentin pays regards to time, whereas Benjy did not. This peculiarity in character is furthermore surfaced in the progression of the sub-plots in the chapter where Quentin, for instance, goes into a clock shop and asks if any of the clocks are correct, and when Quentin muses about the tolls of the town bells. Perhaps this difference in the characters is Faulkner's way of saying that time is purely a human-created concept that is inconsequential to memories/events. In the last chapter, although Benjy didn't mention time, the memories and flashbacks relayed in the chapter were there nonetheless, and parallel, although Quentin does mention time, the memories and flashbacks are still relayed in the chapter.
However, uncanny similarities among Benjy and Quentin I ound was their heightened sensitivity of senses, particularly smell,and fondness of their sister Caddy. In chapter one, Benjy seemed to frequently be reminiscing about Caddy's scent of trees, and in chapter two, Quentin seems to be struck with the image of honeysuckle at night ("sad honeyuckle," to be precise). This is one way that the Compson brothers are tied, and anothwer way I found they are tied is "mental illness." Benjy is conventionally menally ill, as he is disabled in a way that is present to society. However, Quentin, in my thoughts, is "mentally ill" in the sense that he is obsessive and compulsive towards the prestige of honor, one of the reasons why he weakly tried convincing his father that he committed incest with Caddy, because he knows that Caddy was with other men, a serious defamation of the Compson family honor, and Quentin believes that having sexual relations with one's brother is less of an evil than having those relations with foreign men. Quentin's infatuation with honor is not rare however, because honor and pride is a deeply-rooted aspect of Southern culture. (Why else did cowboys have "duels to the death" in movies, after all? To defend ego) Also, it is evident that Quentin, and Benjy for that matter, adore and constantly bring to mind their sister Caddy. We can safely conclude this because as we are given the first-hand perspective of the characters, we experience their [jumbled and varying] emotions, flashbacks, and thoughts.
Overall, the Quentin chapter was key in piecing more information of not only the characters, but also the Compson family as well as southern culture. I'm inferring that the next chapter will be the perspective of another Compson family member?
-LbugL
Overall, the Quentin chapter was key in piecing more information of not only the characters, but also the Compson family as well as southern culture. I'm inferring that the next chapter will be the perspective of another Compson family member?
-LbugL
I like your satyrical take on Faulkner's writing and how it's easy to follow. I appreciate your act of deciphering Quentin's actions and explaining them to the reader. Also, the parallels shown in Benjy's chapter and his disabilities that are both equal and, in some ways, different than Benjy's.
ReplyDeleteI like how you used quotes to support and further strengthen your arguments. I also like how you pointed out that Quentin payed attention to time whereas Benjy did not. I had not really thought about time in the Benjy chapter until now, and I guess that was because it was not present. I also like how you pointed out their heightened senses. To add onto what you said about Quentin's mental illness I think it is also tied to his depression. I like how you compared Benjy and Quentin it got me to look deeper into the book.
ReplyDeleteI really like how you wrote the introduction; giving the reader a good frame of reference and letting them know how you felt reading the chapter. I really enjoyed how you included comparisons between the Quentin chapter and the Benjy chapter and pointed out the differences you had to get used to as you started the new chapter.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you on the point about the mental illness Quentin shares with Benjy. As I read the chapter, I kept thinking "Are we sure that Benjy was the one with the mental illness?". Anyway, I applaud you for making it through this chapter because I definitely struggled, and, from what I read, you appear to have a better understanding of this chapter than I do! Great post!
ReplyDeleteI agree that the change in narrators is disconcerting, along with the time shift. Trying to follow Quinton's narration was by no means easy, especially as the chapter goes on and he becomes more unstable.
ReplyDeleteI agree that it was like a rug was pulled out from under us, but I think that it was a good thing, as it makes the reader pay more attention to what Faulkner is saying. And I do think that as wrong as it sounds, Quentin's saying that he committed incest was actually an honorable thing to do.
ReplyDeleteI agree with everything you said. I think there are serious similarities between Benjy and Quentin. Your post was very insightful and I love how you made this analysis your own. Quentin's infatuation with time is certainly significant, otherwise why would Faulkner say so much about it? I think that it also interesting to note, as you did, that Benjy was different in this respect. Benjy didn't take note of time at all.
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