Sound And The Fury
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There are four main characters in The Sound and the Fury. These characters are: Benjy, Jason, Caddy, and Quentin. These four characters are siblings of the Compson family. They are a southern family whose decay is the center of the novel their eldest son is Benjy. His point of view is used in the beginning section of the novel. Caddy is the central character of the novel. She is very promiscuous; this creates the main conflict of the novel. She is the only Compson child not to have a section told from her point of view. Jason is the most wicked character of the book. He is the second youngest and is extremely self-centered. Quentin is the youngest child. He is an unhappy student attending Harvard who has incestuous feelings for his sister Caddy. These feelings lead to his suicide. The main focus of The Sound and the Fury is centrally located around the four siblings of the Compson family.
The novel starts with Benjy telling the story. He constantly switches between memories, thoughts, and time. the matter inside his mind, and the way he sees things, is extremely significant. “Benjys section consists mostly of memories of his sister Caddy. Caddy becomes a mother to Benjy treating him with love,” (Kinney 108). Benjy remembers many times when Caddy is promiscuous. Benjy cries to communicate his feelings. It is also important that Benjy views the world in sound and sight. The title is an allusion to Shakespeares Macbeth. In one of its soliloquies life is referred to as “a tale told by an idiot”, this idiot in The Sound and the Fury refers to Benjy.
Jason Compson is the most villainous character in The Sound and the Fury. “Jasons narrative is determined by mother fixation, his contempt for Caddy and his obsession over Quentin” (Moore). Jason is shown as being a self-pitying character. His control of Miss Quentin, Caddys daughter, shows that he has his fixation of Quentin and abhorrence for Caddy. This is emphasized when Miss Quentin runs away after stealing money from Jason. Jasons character was used as a criticism of hate and prejudice. This is shown when he treats Dilsey, the black servant, often protecting Miss Quentin.” Jason himself is the one character tied to being logical, though completely non-objective, Jason as a character is very logical and thus his section is written with more clarity “(Vickery 281).
Caddy