The Unconscious Mind In William Faulkner's The Sound And The Fury

William Faulkner wrote The Sound and the Fury in the early twentieth century, soon after Sigmund Freud’s study of the human unconscious mind, psychoanalysis, had started to become popular. It is rather clear that his theories of the unconscious mind had a strong influence on Faulkner while he was writing this novel. We will see this through the main characters whose point of view the first three chapters are told from; Benjy, Quentin, and Jason. There are even some other Freudian influences on other characters, such as Caddy.

Sigmund Freud's conception of personality consists of three entities; the id, ego, and superego. The id is the most fundamental of the three. It is characterized as "the reservoir of instinctual psychic energy, or libido." …show more content…
We see this as he has instinctive desires that are driven by the id; his ego, the mediator for the id to the real, external world, works towards getting him the things he desires. This can be seen with his repeated abuse of his mother’s trust whenever he steals large sums of money from her, and when he cashes the cheques that Caddy send for her daughter Quentin. The ego also is the most concerned with reality and time and we see that this perfectly aligns with the character of Jason Compson as his chapter in the book it is clear when he is thinking of a memory and when he is in the present time. At the end of a long day he needs a release, but instead of taking it out on the first person he sees his ego makes him wait till Quentin is around. In all these instances of Jason’s cruelty and misbehavior with his family, which typifies his character, his superego, which is responsible for his conscience, is virtually nonexistent. We see this when he not only is ready to whip Quentin with his belt, but also says horrible and racist things to Dilsey when she attempts to get in his …show more content…
He holds his southern values close and has a conscience that allows him to have a strong sense of right or wrong; however, this also paralyses him often. The superego presents conflicts with the ego and the ideal will, between the internal and external world. There are strong parallels with Quentin Compson’s character and how Freud defines the superego. The first parallel is that he has incestuous desires for his sister Caddy, but cannot pursue her due to the societal norms that he has been taught by his parents that manifest through the superego. The next parallel is that since he wants to be her lover, but doesn’t pursue her, he lies to his father claiming to have had intercourse with her. Here we see him manifesting his internal desire and making an attempt to make it his external reality, but he doesn’t even get to live that false reality briefly as his father dismisses his claim. His constant inability to follow through with things that he wants, because of his id, and begins to execute, through his ego, typifies his character. This inability to follow through is due to his conscience, and so, he represents the