The Sound and the Fury

William Faulkner

The Sound and the Fury

This fatalistic soliloquy, delivered by Macbeth when he hears the
news of his wife's death, is the most prominent intertext of The
Sound and the Fury. Faulkner's novel, particularly Quentin's
section (June 2, 1910), is suffused with imagery and metaphor
drawn from this speech.
Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death.
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 V. v. 19-28

The Sound and the Fury

Major Characters (from PinkMonkey.com)
Mr. Jason Compson - The negligent father. He is a descendant of a distinguished Southern
family now in a state of decline. He is addicted to drinking and is cynical in his views. He is
pretty detached from the needs of his family.
Mrs.Caroline Compson - The half-comic, half-pathetic, neurotic mother. She is the wife of
Mr. Jason Compson. She is a whining, self-pitying woman who seems to always be too ill or
too poorly constituted to respond to her children's needs. She is incredibly dependent to and
devoted on her son, Jason.
Quentin Compson - The oldest Compson son. Quentin is an introvert. He is very concerned
with order and appearance, and has a lot of difficulty dealing with the chaos of his family. He
is devoted to Caddy, his sister, and is horrified by her immoral behavior. As a result of his
inability to cope with disorder, he commits suicide while living at Harvard.
Caddy Compson - The only daughter in the Compson family. Caddy is the second oldest.
She alone takes time to communicate with Benjy, her retarded brother. She is extremely
close to Quentin. During her adolescence, Caddy becomes very defiant and promiscuous.
She gets pregnant and marries a man, Herbert Head, who is not the father of her child.
Herbert divorces her soon after the baby is born. Her family generally regards her as a
"fallen woman". She is not welcome to return home, and Mrs. Compson dictates that her
name never be spoken again.
Jason Compson - The favorite son of the mother. He is the 3rd of the Compson children,
and by far the most unlikable. As a child, he is a tattletale. As an adult, he is a crook and a
liar. He cheats his sister Caddy and his mother out of a lot of money. He is responsible for
Benjy's castration and eventual placement in an asylum. Caddy's daughter, Quentin, is the
only member of the family able to get revenge on Jason for his cruelty.
Benjy Compson - The youngest of the Compson children. He is born and named Maury, but
when his retardation is discovered, his name is changed to Benjy. He never speaks, but his
thoughts reflect at least the perception of good and evil. He loves Caddy enormously, and is
calmed down later in life just by holding one of her old slippers.
Dilsey Gibson - The Compson's black cook. She is one of the most likable characters in the
novel, perhaps because she is not a true member of the ill-fated Compson clan. She is very
loyal and devoted to the Compson family. She is also a very religious woman.
Miss Quentin - Caddy's illegitimate daughter. She is brought up in the Compson household,

The Sound and the Fury

There are approximately nine significant events from the past
that make their way into Benjy's monologue. The following is a
list of those events, placed in approximate chronological order:
1. Benjy is three years old. He and his siblings play at the creek.
When they return home, their grandmother, Damuddy, has
passed away.
2. Benjy's name is changed from Maury to Benjamin. He is five
years old.
3. Benjy and Caddy deliver Uncle Maury's letter to Mrs.
Patterson. Benjy is around seven years old.
4. Caddy uses perfume and Benjy gets angry because she no
longer smells "like trees." Benjy finds Caddy with a boy (Charlie)
in the swing and tries to get her to leave. Caddy loses her
virginity. Benjy is between the ages of 10 and 15 when these
events take place.
5. Benjy alone delivers a letter to Mrs. Patterson. Mr. Peterson
intercepts the letter. Benjy is thirteen.
6. Caddy is pregnant. She gets married and goes away. Benjy and
T. P. get drunk. Quentin is upset.
7. Benjy waits at the gate for Caddy after she has gone away.
8. Benjy is castrated after a young girl misunderstands and
thinks he is molesting her.
9. Quentin commits suicide. Mr. Compson dies. Roskus dies.

The Sound and the Fury

To present these past episodes and those of the present
day, Faulkner uses a "stream of consciousness"
technique, which consists of giving the thoughts of a
character in the order in which those thoughts occur in
the mind of the character. The thoughts in such a case
are not arranged in the chronological order as they are
in an ordinary novel written according to the traditional
mode of narration. The human mind thinks of so many
things at random. Faulkner transfers these thoughts of
a character to paper exactly in the same order in which
they occur to the character. Thus, some of the thoughts
have no connection at all with the preceding or
succeeding thoughts or with the events that are
happening in the present. Faulkner's aim in following
this technique is to give us an accurate picture of the
character's mind, even though we may not be able to
make sense of those thoughts because no sequence has
been observed. (PinkMonkey.com)
1.Benjy
2.Quentin

The Sound and the Fury

and Roskus came and said to come to supper and Caddy said,
It's not supper time yet I'm not going.
She was wet. We were playing in the branch and Caddy squatted down and got her dress wet and Versh
said,
"Your mommer going to whip you for getting your dress wet."
"She's not going to do any such thing." Caddy said.
"How do you know." Quentin said.
"That's all right how I know." Caddy said. "How do you know."
"She said she was." Quentin said. "Besides, I'm older than you."
"I'm seven years old." Caddy said. "I guess I know."
"I'm older than that." Quentin said. "I go to school. Dont I, Versh."
"I'm going to school next year." Caddy said. "When it comes. Aint I, Versh."
"You know she whip you when you get your dress wet." Versh said.
"It's not wet." Caddy said. She stood up in the water and looked at her dress. "I'll take it off." she said.
"Then it'll dry."
"I bet you wont." Quentin said.
"I bet I will." Caddy said.
"I bet you better not." Quentin said.
Caddy came to Versh and me and turned her back.
"Unbutton it, Versh." she said.
"Dont you do it, Versh." Quentin said.
"Taint none of my dress." Versh said.
"You unbutton it, Versh." Caddy said. "Or I'll tell Dilsey what you did yesterday." So Versh unbuttoned it.
"You just take your dress off." Quentin said. Caddy took her dress off and threw it on the bank. Then she
didn't have on anything but her bodice and drawers, and Quentin slapped her and she slipped and fell down
in the water. When she got up she began to splash water on Quentin, and Quentin splashed water on Caddy.
Some of it splashed on Versh and me and Versh picked me up and put me on the bank. He said he was going
to tell on Caddy and Quentin, and then Quentin and Caddy began to splash water at Versh. He got behind a
bush.
"I'm going to tell mammy on you all." Versh said.
Quentin climbed up the bank and tried to catch Versh, but Versh ran away and Quentin couldn't. When
Quentin came back Versh stopped and hollered that he was going to tell. Caddy told him that if he wouldn't
tell, they'd let him come back. So Versh said he wouldn't, and they let him.
"Now I guess you're satisfied." Quentin said. "We'll both get whipped now."
"I dont care." Caddy said. "I'll run away."
"Yes you will." Quentin said.
"I'll run away and never come back." Caddy said. I began to cry.
Caddy turned around and said "Hush" So I hushed. Then they played in the branch. Jason was playing too.
He was by himself further down the branch. Versh came around the bush and lifted me down into the water

The Sound and the Fury

We could hear Caddy walking fast. Father and Mother looked
at the door. Caddy passed it, walking fast. She didn't look.
She walked fast.
"Candace." Mother said. Caddy stopped walking.
"Yes, Mother." she said.
"Hush, Caroline." Father said.
"Come here." Mother said.
"Hush, Caroline." Father said. "Let her alone."
Caddy came to the door and stood there, looking at
Father and Mother. Her eyes flew at me, and away. I began
to cry. It went loud and I got up. Caddy came in and stood
with her back to the wall, looking at me. I went toward her,
crying, and she shrank against the wall and I saw her eyes
and I cried louder and pulled at her dress. She put her hands
out but I pulled at her dress. Her eyes ran.

The Sound and the Fury

The Sound and the Fury: a Hypertext Edition. Ed. Stoicheff,
Muri, Deshaye, et al. Updated Mar. 2003. U of
Saskatchewan. Accessed 18 Mar. 2003
<http://www.usask.ca/english/faulkner>