Quentin Chapter

Despite my disdain for any romanticization of mental illness, I found there to be a certain poetic element to Quentin's narration. Even at times, and maybe especially at times, when his thoughts were muddled and panicked and he failed to adhere any rules of proper grammar. Although his chapter was just as confusing as Benjy's, if not more so, I found myself compelled to read further because Quentin unfailingly included a level of intrigue for the reader to cling to as he divulged all the secrets of his instability and neuroses. 

His obsession with Caddy is on a whole different planet than Benjy's. Benjy's obsession can be likened to a much purer relationship. He has a deeply pure and good love for Caddy as she is one of the only people in his life to treat him with true love and compassion. Quentin, on the other hand, has much more authentic "obsession" with Caddy wherein it ventures deep into the grey, unhealthy area. It is undeniable that he loves her, but the extent to which he does is what creates an unhealthy obsession. He feels compelled to control and ensure that she is well to the point that he is causing her harm. 

The passage that struck me was in the beginning of the chapter when Quentin eludes to Caddy's pregnancy and mentions Dalton Ames. In his thoughts he recalls a memory of himself saying "I have committed incest it was I it was not Dalton Ames". This line however was not in quotation marks but rather italicized, making the verity of the sentence questionable. I searched the line and various interpretations of it and more reliable sources claimed that Quentin did not truly commit incest but would have preferred that he had over the idea of his sister's promiscuity. Quentin is in college at this point as he reminisces of the situation, but it is unclear if and when Quentin truly confessed committing incest to his father.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Benjy Chapter

What roles does Benjy play in the Compson family? What does his unique perspective show us about the Compsons? I think Benjy plays a very pure role in the Compson family. Although he is frequently and predominantly perceived as burdensome, he has an undeniable innocence that all the other Compsons lack. He is a very unorthodox version of a reliable narrator in that he is highly observant. Being mentally slow, he tells what things plain as he seems them free of judgment, bias, or assumption. He likes certain people more than others, his sister Caddy in particular, but he does not tell what he sees and experiences based on his liking for the people or the situation. He simply says what is. What might Benjy's need for consistency and his extremely strong nostalgia for the past say about the concept of family? About the South as a place? Benjy has in his own way a strong sense of family. He relies on them solely for his own well-being. The only people Benjy really has a strong ...
Read more

Ending

I overall really liked the book but was sort of relieved when I finished it. Whenever I read a book I get a different sort of feeling inside of me, and reading The Sound and the Fury gave me a sort of strange, gloomy feeling that often made me reluctant to keep reading.   From the seminar I most prominently took away a better understanding of Caddy. The question was raised of why she never narrated her own chapter, and initially I was regretful that she never did, but as we discussed it further it dawned on me that the book was really better off without her blunt perspective. I think Caddy was intended to be a little mysterious and elusive and she served more as a secondary character that enhanced the plot lines of the main ones.  
Read more