For the lava time;
An argumentative essay on the shaping of characters due to the use of time and memory.
In William Faulkner’s novel, The Sound and the Fury, the Compson family struggles through life’s numerous challenges of a mentally disabled child, death, and reputation. Time and memory captivate the minds of many of the characters, but these concepts also cease to exist in the minds of other characters. William Faulkner uses many themes throughout his novel in order to create a though provoking read. Faulkner’s use of time and memory portray Benjy and Quentin’s true thoughts about what is most important to them in their lives and how they perceived the events.
For Benjy, time doesn’t seem to exist. Therefore, he has no timeline of his own life, just a jumble of memories. Benjy’s memories are based on automatic responses to events or words that trigger his memory. While Benjy is watching some men playing golf, he hears one of them say, “‘Here Caddie.’ He hit. Then went across the pasture. I held to the fence and watched them go away. ‘Listen at you, now.’ Luster said. ‘Aint you something, thirty three years old, going on that way… Hush up that moaning’” (3). When Benjy hears the man say “Caddie”, it …show more content…
Faulkner’s purpose for incorporating multiple time periods in the form of memory is to show how characters, even from the same family, can have incredibly different ways of looking back at life. Benjy and Quentin are two complete opposite people, but are also brothers. They have more similarities than one would expect. Both boys have a love for their sister, Caddy. She is most likely the only person either one of them have ever loved. It is very upsetting to both boys when Caddy gets her underwear muddy. They do not like Caddy being dirty; they would rather her be clean and pure. The time and timelessness theme of this novel continues throughout the
An argumentative essay on the shaping of characters due to the use of time and memory.
In William Faulkner’s novel, The Sound and the Fury, the Compson family struggles through life’s numerous challenges of a mentally disabled child, death, and reputation. Time and memory captivate the minds of many of the characters, but these concepts also cease to exist in the minds of other characters. William Faulkner uses many themes throughout his novel in order to create a though provoking read. Faulkner’s use of time and memory portray Benjy and Quentin’s true thoughts about what is most important to them in their lives and how they perceived the events.
For Benjy, time doesn’t seem to exist. Therefore, he has no timeline of his own life, just a jumble of memories. Benjy’s memories are based on automatic responses to events or words that trigger his memory. While Benjy is watching some men playing golf, he hears one of them say, “‘Here Caddie.’ He hit. Then went across the pasture. I held to the fence and watched them go away. ‘Listen at you, now.’ Luster said. ‘Aint you something, thirty three years old, going on that way… Hush up that moaning’” (3). When Benjy hears the man say “Caddie”, it …show more content…
Faulkner’s purpose for incorporating multiple time periods in the form of memory is to show how characters, even from the same family, can have incredibly different ways of looking back at life. Benjy and Quentin are two complete opposite people, but are also brothers. They have more similarities than one would expect. Both boys have a love for their sister, Caddy. She is most likely the only person either one of them have ever loved. It is very upsetting to both boys when Caddy gets her underwear muddy. They do not like Caddy being dirty; they would rather her be clean and pure. The time and timelessness theme of this novel continues throughout the