The Sound and the Fury

In The Sound and the Fury, William Faulkner intentionally denies Caddy, arguably the main character of the novel, a chance to speak for herself. In doing so he emphasizes how change is never heard, but its ripples are seen. Caddy who represents changing societal norms is only seen through the eyes of those experiencing her actions (changes in values). We never hear Caddy’s motives but we see the effects of her actions. Three different views come to pass as a result of Caddy’s actions and the…

WWW8 In William Faulkner’s novel The Sound and The Fury, he enlists different characters like Benjy, a thirty-three year old disabled and mentally ill member of the Compson family to illustrate life in the South during the Reconstruction era of American history. Benjy’s narration is unique in that it warps time, amalgamating many different memories with the present. Benjy’s role within the Compson family and within The Sound and the Fury is to represent unity, both in the familial sense, and…

The Fence to Adulthood: Sexuality in The Sound and The Fury Throughout William Faulkner’s The Sound and The Fury, the patriarchal construct of virginity controls women through the creation of fences -- both physical and metaphorical barriers. Traditionally, when a Southern girl reaches adulthood, she is expected to settle down and raise her children, obeying her husband as the family patriarch. These Southern power structures are like fences in that they have traditionally restricted women’s…

Faulkner’s characters often endured terrible struggles, but he treated them with dignity. For example the novel, The Sound and the Fury, is based on a family who are struggling to deal with the end of their family and it’s reputation. The Compson family falls into financial crisis, they lose their religious faith and the respect of the town, and many of the characters die tragically…

behind closed doors shocking and unpredictable actions are taken. To keep a good standing in public is essential for a good reputation. Families will stick together in the end, but it does not mean that the road to get there is a smooth one. The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner highlights an aristocratic, southern family’s ties between family members and the tensions that pull families apart. The novel uses a narrative style that is separated and unaligned. Faulkner has the novel contain…

The Sound and The Fury is a novel written by author William Faulkner, a dramatic novel that captures the fall of the Compson family's reputation and the struggle that they encounter as they try to adjust to the societal changes in the early 20th century. Caddy Compson is a loving and adventurous girl who captures the heart of her three brothers; Benji, Quentin, and Jason who becomes obsessed with her and end up pushing her away from her household. Caddy Compson is a young girl who happened…

Jay Gatsby’s and Quentin Compson’s Obsession with the Past in The Great Gatsby and The Sound and the Fury Jay Gatsby from the The Great Gatsby and Quentin Compson from The Sound and the Fury share an obsession with the past. Both, Jay Gatsby and Quentin Compson feels like their lives are not fulfil, which causes them to live a dissatisfying life and obsess over women of their past. These two characters try to reconnect with their past in which they were more content. Jay Gatsby tries to…

Myth and Regional Identity John T. Matthews, in The Sound and the Fury: Faulkner and the Lost Cause, locates the cause of the struggle as the Civil War. Matthews points out that the Civil War had “permanently altered the foundation of both the Southern economy and race relations” by abolishing slavery, which was the basis of Southern society. As the promise of Reconstruction fell through and without a system to replace slavery, the South was denied economic recovery. The Southerners were faced…

William Faulkner wrote The Sound and the Fury, a novel that consists of four narrators that tell the same story in different perspectives. Quentin, being one of the most challenging characters to comprehend, is dissected by Vickery in “The Sound and the Fury: A Study in Perspective”. Vickery writes that Quentin 's section revolves around abstractions, yet Vickery does not state why she favors abstractions to individuals. Quentin prefers ideas to people because they are easier to manipulate in…

In William Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury, the characters’ relationship with time plays a key role in their personal development. Each of the characters to whom Faulkner dedicates a chapter have an alternate view on the passage of time, offering different insights into the way humans interact with it. For Benjy, time is meaningless. Every moment to him feels as though it had just occurred and he cannot differentiate between the past and the present. Simply hearing the name of his sister…