Time changeover is the most typical characteristic in the first section. This section is narrated by Benjy, a speechless idiot who can only express his feeling by moaning and crying. The story skips back and forth 34 times in all to demonstrate how disorderly his brain is. The title “April 7, 1928” shows the present time, which is also Benjy’s 33 years old birthday. In the whole section, time jumps eleven times back to the day of Dumuddy’s death in 1898, five times back to Caddy’s depravation and her Wedding in 1910, four times back to the days of Quentin, Mr. Compson and Roskus’s death and 14 times back to other impressive events.
The signal of the time changeover is the similar things that Benjy has met both in the past and at present. He always mistakes what he sees now to what happened before. For instance, the first jump in time is when Luster goes to many places in order to find his quarter and takes Benjy with him. A caddie’s crying causes Benjy recall his sister Caddy owing to the same pronunciations of “caddie” and “Caddy”. One way to identify the time of Benjy’s memory is to see who his caretaker is. Versh takes care of him before 1905, T.P. doing after 1905, and now is Luster. Another way is to see who the “Quentin” and “Jason” represent. His brother Quentin died in 1910 while his niece Quentin had not born. His father Jason died in 1912 while his brother Jason still lives.
One of the significances of the frequent time changeover is to reappear the rich and carefree Compson family in the past, just like old people always say “Once upon a time, when I was young……” when talking to others about the current situation. Because of his poor intelligence, Benjy, like a three years old child, is not able to understand the surrounding world. On the other hand, he has such exquisite sensitivity and witness the Compson family’s declining. The previously harmonious family in his memory is in sharp contrast to the present situation. Benjy recalls many interesting things in his childhood, such as he played with his brothers and sisters and he helped Uncle Maury deliver a love letter. Then with his growth, what he memorized turns grey. His sister Caddy became depraved and married with a man she did not love. His brother Quentin killed himself. His father died. Roskus died. In other words, by means of time changeover, the writer tells us the brief story through Benjy’s memory.
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I agree, time is one of the main things that is represented throughout this book. I think that Faulkner uses many symbols that represent time, and he leaves it up to the reader to differentiate between the past and the present. I also think that it is very interesting how each narrator has a flashback of some sort and lapse of time. In Benjy's case, different things remind him of past experiences, and so he will stop in the middle of a thought and think through his memory. In Quentin's case, he goes back in time and remembers things about his past that he may have suppressed at the time so that he would not have to deal with it. In my opinion, the difference between Benjy's flashbacks and Quentin's are that Quentin's flashbacks probably contributed to him actually going through with his suicide because old memories cause sadness. But with Benjy, they are just memories that causes him sadness that he does not know how to deal with because of his disability.
ReplyDeleteAlthough time is an essential and recurring motif within the novel, I do not feel that Benjy’s memory shifts conclude that his thought process is chaotic. Although he has a mental disability and no concept of time as he muddles the past and present together, by no way do I believe that Benjy is an “idiot” as some readers may deduce. In addition, it is an insult not just to Benjy, but all those, who are intellectually impaired, to call him that. Instead, his memory shifts demonstrate his similarity to those around him. Words, objects, places, and people can often remind an individual of an assortment of events that have already occurred in his or her life. As a result, these words, objects, places, and people trigger his or her brain to various times in his or her life as well as the proceedings that occurred at that particular time. However, unlike other narrators in William Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury, such as Quentin, Benjy creates his chapter from an objective perspective void of his personal opinions and commentary.
ReplyDeleteBenjy's thought process is one, I believe, most of us have used before. If we see something, hear something, or ever smell something which reminds us of a past event, it does not take long for us to relive it in our minds. The time changes are essential to the story. Without them we would lack many facts which help link the characters together and explain what is happening. The way the time changes are put in, I feel, are very similar to how we think through, and make since of our own surroundings. This book is a very interesting interpretation of how we live and learn in our world. Without our past we would have nothing to make since of the future, and this book does a very good job of relaying this message.
ReplyDeleteAlthough time is one of the most important aspects in this novel, I think that Benjy’s stories are not simply for our entertainment but to show us how their family used to interact and how well they worked together before everything started to fail. By giving us the story in Benjy’s perspective, the author is basically giving us the story in a child’s perspective which is very helpful to the reader. Just like young children see everything for what it’s worth and nothing more, so does Benjy. This simplistic approach helps the readers relate more to the family because we can draw our own conclusions; it is not biased nor “contaminated” with another character’s thoughts. Also, I do not believe that Benjy is an “idiot” just mentally disabled and he can hear and understand many things they tell him. Just because his thoughts move around does not mean that he does not understand, it simply means that he has many thoughts that he cannot organize, just like many other people.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what the others have said, that time change is a very important factor to the story. It gives an insight to the past, and to the fall of the compson family. I also believe that it is a way for Faulkner to contrast the present and past generations. It gives a glimpse into the Old South, that Quentin feels strongly about, and Damduddy was a part of(I think her death symbolizes the fall of the old South), and contrasts it to the new generation of lower morals and values (the promiscuity of Caddy and her daughter).
ReplyDeleteI agree with Dani. I believe that William Falkner takes a whole new approach to a fiction novel addressing each perspective of a dysfunctional family that falls apart. To begin the chapter in the mind of Benjy, is brilliant. Not only am I drawn in by the fact that I am reading the book through the perspective of someone whose sense of time is disoriented, but I am even more drawn into to the magnification of his hypersensitivity due to that of his impairment. Benjy is not an idiot; however he is one character I feel that really heightens the tone of where the family is as a whole. I find out more about each characters personality in how they treat Benjy and how he responds to it in Chapter 1. The fact that he has flashbacks is no uncommon ordeal. We as humans do it all the time without noticing. It is simply shown to us through another person’s perspective; giving us insight as to something we do everyday. Again, I reiterate, Benjy can represent simplicity in a book filled with so much fury. From his simple perspective, sometimes that is need in order to get an unbiased, truth of what problems and treatments are really taking place in the Compson family.
ReplyDeleteThe concept of time plays a major role in this novel because it's filled with characters who each possess their very own understandings of the same events. The sequence of events is continuously shaped and molded for each character, which in turn gives the novel depth and greater meaning. The idea that time can not be changed or given back grants the idea that there are things in life that we as humans have to accept and try to understand. This is a concept that is not always easily achieved and I for one believe that this is the very idea that drives the novel from date to date, character to character, and from past to present.
ReplyDeleteIn the novel, the Sound and the Fury, time is an important theme Faulkner develops. The characters we have met so far, all cope differently with time. Both Benjy and Quentin move backward and forward in time in their heads. This causes flashbacks that interrupt the narrative flow of the novel. First up is Benjy whose sense of time is defective. His thoughts move from present to past time without him having the ability to grasp the real meaning of the events. He confuses his memory for his present, making the "switches" seamless and hard to follow. Next is Quentin, whose efforts to cope with the present are hindered by his memories. He cannot accept the changes in his life that time inevitably brings. Instead of dealing with life's changes over time, he puts an end to time by committing suicide. Bur unlike Benjy, he is more coherent, more focused on the impact of time, so his flashbacks are better transitioned. By using this technique, Faulkner highlights time as a theme, portraying its effect on people. Time reflects on all of us and is the measurement of life as we pass through it. For Benjy, he is not capable of recognizing time's passage and so moves back and forth in it as his mind flits across his memories. For Quentin, he is so distressed by the weight of the time that has passed and what he has lost that he is equally disabled. He gets stuck in the past, and overwhelmed by the time, and can not live.
ReplyDeleteThe continue and agree with what many have said, time is an important feature in this book. Without all the flashbacks and time shifts the story would not make sense at all. At first it seemed akward and confusing but the more you read the story you see how vital the thought process really is. I also agree with what was said about Benjy. He is not an idiot. Yes he is challenged in many ways but his thinking process is like the rest of ours. I know I can account for many times when someone has said or did something and I jump back in time. I find myself shifting often too, so to say that he is stupid because he cant stay within his time frame is crazy. Faulkner's book sound and fury is a great piece of literature. He shows the realness of people and exposes are faults and the human process of thinking.
ReplyDeleteThe time changeover and Benjy's reoccuring flashbacks tell Benjy's story by narrating it in the same way most people think. This is important because Benjy can't communicate the way most people do, with spoken language. They are also important because, as other people have said, it allows us to compare the present situation of the Compson family with past situations. It's also interesting to see the opposite ways in which Benjy and Quentin deal with time. Benjy moves easily between the past and present day, almost as if he has no concept of time. Quentin, on the other hand, has put so much effort into avoiding time that he can no longer handle things that have happened in the past.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting that Benjy's chapter gives the brief history of the Compson family. I wonder if it would have been easier to have another character explain it, but, at the same time, it's understandable that it would be Benjy--he seems most able to recount the events that have happened to him, even if he cannot fully understand them. Time is definately a huge part of the novel, and using the perspective of a person (Benjy) who doesn't seem to be quite as aware of time as everybody else does, gives us an idea of what has happened without giving too much away.
ReplyDeleteTime is very important in this novel. i agree that this novel made the most sense through Benjy's perspective because he did'nt see things selfishly. He saw the brighter things in life, and saw things in a positive light. Regardless if he's younger or older. The compson family's entire life has fallen apart in basically 3 days. That shows you how dyfunctional their relationship was.
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