Power And Reputation In William Faulkner's Mrs. Compson

Mrs. Compson, as useless as she is, is greedy for power and reputation. Through her constant abuse of Dilsey and complaints about Miss Quentin’s misdeeds, the frail and ailing Mrs. Compson tries to behold as much power as possible despite leaving Jason Compson, a physically abusive, swindling, asshole formally in charge of the family. “ Give me the keys, you old fool! Jason cried suddenly. From her pocket he tugged a huge bunch of rusted keys on an iron ring like a medieval jailer’s and ran back up the hall with the two women.”(Faulkner, 183) For Nussler, the rusty old keys that Mrs. Compson holds on to as a symbol of the power she has in the family. Those keys, being the keys to the families estate are in Mrs. Compson’s possession …show more content…
She began to wail.” (Faulkner, 183) Her reluctance to give them up to Jason despite him being the head of the family shows a mistrust in her son and her grasping to any power she can have. Even though Jason, as the only physically able man in the house, should technically be in charge according to the male dominated South which the Compson’s live in, Mrs. Compson wants to behold the power since she realizes subconsciously she is a better fit leader. Furthermore, the rust building on the keys is representative of the “old money” and long lasting name of the Compson family. The Compson estate is built on generations and generations of pride and that pride is faltering with the Compson’s offspring being failures. With Benjy being mentally challenged, Jason not truly caring about the Compson name(which Mrs. Compson seems to realize), and Quentin who committed suicide, the keys are the only tangible thing about the estate that Mrs. Compson can hold on to. Because she cares so much about the family name and has so much pride, Mrs. Compson cannot and will not relinquish the keys to the estate unless she one of her sons could prove himself as a feasible upholder of