Summary of Sound and the Fury
This section of the book is commonly referred to as "Benjy's section" because it is narrated by the retarded youngest son of the Compson family, Benjamin Compson. At this point in the story, Benjy is 33 years old - in fact, today is his birthday - but the story skips back and forth in time as various events trigger memories. When the reader first plunges into this narrative, the jumps in time are difficult to navigate or understand, although many scenes are marked by recurring images, sounds, or words. In addition, a sort of chronology can be established depending on who is Benjy's caretaker: first Versh when Benjy is a child, then T. P. when he is an adolescent, then Luster when he is an adult. One other fact that may confuse first-time readers is the repetition of names. There are, for example, two Jasons (father and son), two Quentins (Benjy's brother and Caddy's daughter), and two Mauries (Benjy himself before 1900 and Benjy's uncle). Benjy recalls three important events: the evening of his grandmother "Damuddy's" death in 1898, his name change in 1900, and Caddy's sexual promiscuity and wedding in 1910, although these events are punctuated by other memories, including the delivery of a letter
Frony asks about the funeral, and Versh scolds her for mentioning it. Benjy says that Caddy and Quentin smell like trees and rain. She tells him that she is "bad anyway you cant help it" (158). She replies that she can and must and that "after that it'll be all right it wont matter" and begs him to look after Benjy and make sure that they don't send him to an asylum (112). Benjy waits for his mother to get into the carriage. He states that it is "a tale / Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, / signifying nothing. She turns her back and continues to ignore him, saying she doesn't give a damn what he was doing. Quentin gives Benjy some more sarsaparilla to drink, and he cries. When Quentin tells him that he would like to have been born a eunuch so that he never had to think about sex, he responds "it's because you are a virgin: dont you see? Women are never virgins. Benjy sees that she smells like trees again. His reaction to Damuddy's death, too, is a miniature for the way he will deal with the loss that he sees in Caddy's betrayal of the family later on: "Do you think the buzzards are going to undress Damuddy.
Common topics in this essay:
Dalton Ames,
Harvard Square,
Caddy Jason,
Benjy Quentin,
Charles River,
Jason Jason,
Summary June,
Caddy Benjy,
Jean-Paul Sartre,
Quentin Caddy,
dalton ames,
quentin tells,
,
begins cry,
caddy quentin,
committed incest,
smells trees,
damuddy's death,
benjy cries,
caddy jason,
benjy begins cry,
name change 1900,
muddy drawers climbs,
father committed incest,
committed incest caddy,
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Acceptance Essays
