1. Discuss Quentin as a defeated idealist. 2. Discuss Benjy as a Christ figure and Jason as a satanic figure. 3. Discuss the interrelationships of the various members of the Compson family. 4. How is Dilsey portrayed as the strongest figure to emerge from the novel? 5. Discuss Faulkner’s use […]
Read more Study Help Essay QuestionsCritical Essays Faulkner’s Style and Stream-of-Consciousness
The term “stream-of-consciousness” refers to a technique of narration. Prior to the twentieth century, an author would simply tell the reader what one of the characters was thinking. Stream-of-consciousness is a technique whereby the author writes as though inside the minds of the characters. Since the ordinary person’s mind jumps […]
Read more Critical Essays Faulkner’s Style and Stream-of-ConsciousnessCritical Essays Meaning through Motif
Time Motif The term “motif” refers to recurring ideas or thoughts that act as a unifying idea, and it sometimes develops as a commentary on characterization or on the central ideas in the work. Sometimes motifs recur so frequently that they enhance the meaning of the novel and often rise […]
Read more Critical Essays Meaning through MotifCritical Essays Structure of The Sound and the Fury
When The Sound and the Fury first appeared, the most frequent criticism was that the four sections were arbitrarily and capriciously distorted. A number of critics and readers were confused by Faulkner’s decision to begin the novel with the Benjy section. Many critics felt that this section of the novel, […]
Read more Critical Essays Structure of The Sound and the FuryCritical Essays Title of The Sound and the Fury
Out, Out, brief candle! Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage And then is heard no more: it is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing. Macbeth, Act V, Scene 5 When Macbeth learns […]
Read more Critical Essays Title of The Sound and the FuryWilliam Faulkner Biography
William Faulkner was born in New Albany, Mississippi, but his family soon moved to Oxford, Mississippi. Almost all of his novels take place in and around Oxford, which he renames Jefferson, Mississippi. Even though Faulkner is a contemporary American author, he is already considered to be one of the world’s […]
Read more William Faulkner BiographyCharacter Analysis Dilsey
Dilsey is the strongest character in the novel in view of morality and simple humanity. She is filled with a love for all of God’s creatures and makes little distinction between the needs of Benjy and the needs of the other members of the family. Unlike Jason, she does not […]
Read more Character Analysis DilseyCharacter Analysis Benjy
Benjy is the youngest child of the Compsons and was originally named Maury, after Mrs. Compson’s brother. When it was apparent that he was mentally slow, Mrs. Compson renamed him Benjamin so that the Bascomb name would not be disgraced. Benjy’s primary attribute is that he can “sense things.” He […]
Read more Character Analysis BenjyCharacter Analysis Jason Compson
Faulkner tells us that Jason is the last of the Compsons because he is a bachelor who will never marry. Jason is the type of person who exists solely for himself and believes that the entire world should exist along the lines that he thinks are right. He denies any […]
Read more Character Analysis Jason CompsonCharacter Analysis Caddy
One approach to The Sound and the Fury is by evaluating each brother’s relationship to Caddy. We have no direct view of her — only the reports of Benjy, Quentin, and Jason. From these reports, we have to judge what type of person she actually was. In our earliest view […]
Read more Character Analysis Caddy