Characters

Quentin Compson - The oldest of the Compson children, a sensitive and intelligent boy preoccupied with his love for his sister and his notion of the family's honor. After Caddy's marriage, Quentin commits suicide by drowning toward the end of his first year at Harvard.

Benjy Compson - Born Maury Compson, his name was changed to Benjamin in 1900, when it was discovered that he was severely retarded. A moaning, speechless idiot, Benjy is deeply attached to his sister Caddy, who is a mother-figure for him. When it was thought that he attempted to rape a young girl, Benjy was castrated in 1910.

Jason Compson IV - Quentin, Caddy, and Benjy's mean-spirited, petty younger brother. Promised a job by Herbert Head in a bank, Jason ends up working in a Jefferson farm-supply store after his sister's divorce from Head in 1911.

Caddy Compson - Actually named "Candace"; Mr. Compson and Mrs. Compson's only girl. Very close to her brother Quentin, Caddy becomes a promiscuous adolescent, and becomes pregnant unintentionally. She marries and is divorced by Herbert Head. Forced to leave her daughter (Miss Quentin) to be raised by her family, Caddy is sent away from the Compson home, where she continues to send money for her daughter--

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Caddy loses her virginity, which causes Quentin to threaten to kill her and himself--a threat she accepts as a suggestion.

Dilsey - The Compsons' Negro cook, a pious, strong-willed, and protective influence.

Caroline Compson - Caddy, Quentin, Benjy, and Jason's self-pitying and constantly ill mother. Miss Quentin grows up into a rebellious, unhappy, and promiscuous girl, continually in conflict with her overbearing and vicious uncle Jason.

Deacon - A Negro man in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to whom Quentin gives his suicide notes to various friends and family members. He chases after them, but is unable to catch up. (Weirdly, when Shreve reappears in a later book called Absalom, Absalom!, he is named Shreve McCannon.

Dalton Ames - A local Jefferson boy; probably the father of Caddy's child, Miss Quentin. He also finds ingenious ways to blackmail his sister; in addition, he steals the money that Caddy sends to support Miss Quentin's upbringing. Bland - Gerald Bland's boastful Southern mother.

Shreve MacKenzie - Quentin's Harvard roommate, a young Canadian man. Miss Quentin is raised largely by Dilsey, the Compsons' Negro cook. A rebellious, miserably unhappy, promiscuous girl.

Damuddy - The Compson children's grandmother, who dies when they are young.

Approximate Word count = 999
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

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