In this next chapter, we are introduced to a very strong woman captivated in the body of a frail servant. In the midst of a crumbling family, it is Dilsy the only who manages to stay in one piece. She is the wife of another servant, Roskus, whom we briefly met in a previous chapter. They are the grandparents of Luster, a man we know very well. He is Benjy's caretaker and is really, besides Caddy, the only one who really cares for him.
In the old south it was very common to have servants who raised the kids, rather than the actual mothers. Nowadays many children have nannies, but because their mothers are working women, attempting to bring home some bread. But in the south, there was really no need to hire a servant to take care of you children, but for some strange reason, the "southern belles" of the time felt like it was not their duties as mothers to care for their young ones. Ironic, I know. This being said, it is safe to say that Dilsy has basically raised each and every Compson child.
Dilsy and Roskus' family are the Gibsons. Faulker has created a very strong contrast between the two groups of people. The Compsons don't seem to enjoy each others presence. The matriarchal head, Caroline, though her name means strong, is actually very weak and honestly does not win best mother award. Jason hates everyone in his family who makes him seem "unfitting" in the eyes of society, Quentin was so depressed he committed suicide, and good ol' Caddy is off having an illegitimate baby.. Quit dysfunctional I'd say. The Gibsons, on the other hand, actually seem to enjoy each other and treat each other as a family. They are loving and caring, even to people who are actually quite difficult to tolerate. Granted, they have Dilsy, a much better mother and grandmother. Perhaps this family contrast parallels to the old south and new south, another huge contrast. Faulker uses juxtapositions to embody both sides of the spectrum, and it allows his reader to better understand the good and bad found within a situation.
Its only fitting that Faulkner uses Dilsy's chapter to end his novel. As the Compson family crumbles chapter by chapter, the only one who is able to stay whole and "make it out alive" (metaphorically and literally, R.I.P. Quentin..), is Dilsy.
Saturday, April 12, 2014
Saturday, April 5, 2014
Jason Compson
After some much needed R&R, basking in Salt Lake's incredibly warm weather this past week-- a.k.a snow storm after snow storm during a so called "Spring Break", I have finished another segment in this time twisting saga. In this chapter, we encounter Jason, another Compson, and not exactly the loveliest fellow. From the first quote, "Once a bitch always a bitch" we are thrown into a world of resentment, narcissism, and belittlement of woman. All perfect adjectives to describe our dear Jason.
Jason's chapter takes place one day prior to Benjy's, meaning Quentin (the boy) is long gone. In the beginning there is much talk of a "she", no name is mentions until a page or two in. With this, we meet Quentin. You may be asking yourself, didn't Quentin commit suicide? Is there some weird incarnation thing going on? And the answer is yes, elder Quentin did take his life, and no, unfortunately there is no magical incarnation plot twist yet, but it's still early in the novel, so you never know! This Quentin is a generation younger and also a female. She is the ambiguous "she" discussed at the start. I think Faulkner led with the she, in order to not confuse his readers. If he had begun with Quentin followed by the pronoun "she", there would many more confused faces than there already are.
Quentin and Jason don't exactly get along, see, Quentin is your average teenage girl, she likes to get dolled up and go out with the boys and not attend school. This "free-spiritedness" does not exactly mesh well with Jason's bitterness and resentment with life and also his condescendment of women. You could Jason's a bit, or very, bitter about how the land was sold to pay for elder Quentin's tuition, and that he, Quentin, was the "golden-boy", the one hope for the quickly deteriorating Compson clan. But then he decides to commit suicide, in turn letting all the family's sacrifice go to waste.. Personally, I wouldn't be happy camper either.
Jason also has yet another flaw. He is very fixated with what people think of him. This being said, most people do care what others think of them but not to the point where they're embarrassed of their innocent, handicapped brother. Yep, you heard me, if it were up to Jason, poor little Benjy would not have a place in the Compson household. He lets many of his decisions be impacted based on how he thinks that the public around him will react. At some times this may be a good strategy, it keeps him from saying and doing stupid things but it also blinds from what's right under his nose.
Jason's chapter takes place one day prior to Benjy's, meaning Quentin (the boy) is long gone. In the beginning there is much talk of a "she", no name is mentions until a page or two in. With this, we meet Quentin. You may be asking yourself, didn't Quentin commit suicide? Is there some weird incarnation thing going on? And the answer is yes, elder Quentin did take his life, and no, unfortunately there is no magical incarnation plot twist yet, but it's still early in the novel, so you never know! This Quentin is a generation younger and also a female. She is the ambiguous "she" discussed at the start. I think Faulkner led with the she, in order to not confuse his readers. If he had begun with Quentin followed by the pronoun "she", there would many more confused faces than there already are.
Quentin and Jason don't exactly get along, see, Quentin is your average teenage girl, she likes to get dolled up and go out with the boys and not attend school. This "free-spiritedness" does not exactly mesh well with Jason's bitterness and resentment with life and also his condescendment of women. You could Jason's a bit, or very, bitter about how the land was sold to pay for elder Quentin's tuition, and that he, Quentin, was the "golden-boy", the one hope for the quickly deteriorating Compson clan. But then he decides to commit suicide, in turn letting all the family's sacrifice go to waste.. Personally, I wouldn't be happy camper either.
Jason also has yet another flaw. He is very fixated with what people think of him. This being said, most people do care what others think of them but not to the point where they're embarrassed of their innocent, handicapped brother. Yep, you heard me, if it were up to Jason, poor little Benjy would not have a place in the Compson household. He lets many of his decisions be impacted based on how he thinks that the public around him will react. At some times this may be a good strategy, it keeps him from saying and doing stupid things but it also blinds from what's right under his nose.
Saturday, March 22, 2014
Quentin (The Compson Family Shining Star): June Second, 1910
UPDATE: I have just completed another chronologically confusing chapter..
In chapter two, titled, June Second, 1910, we again are told another series of events, but this time from the point of you of Quentin. His chapter is uniquley complicated "time wise", because his mind makes both the past and the present equally relevant. Now, a little background on Quentin before I begin.. Quentin Compson is the oldest of all the Compson children. Being a Harvard boy, he is, shall we say, "Golden Child", of this family.. (He's that one annoying older brother that makes everyone else seem rather unaccomplished) Like Benjy, Caddy is a very important person in Quentin's life. This where speculation occurs that Quentin has lustful feelings towards Caddy and impregnates her. False. Though Caddy basically taught Quentin what he knows about women, he does not yearn for her in a sexual way. However, he does admit to having commit incest with Caddy, NOT to fulfill a fantasy, but to protect her from harm.. Faulkner writes, "If it could just be a hell beyond that: the clean flame the two of us more than dead. Then you will have only me then only me then the two of us amid the pointing and the horror beyond the clean flame" Committing incest sends one straight to hell, but hey, at least he'll be alone with Caddy there.
Onto chapter as a whole analysis:
Its important to realize the this chapter takes place in 1910, eighteen year prior than the one preceding it. The setting is Cambridge, Massachusetts, home to Quentin's university, the still popular today: Harvard. Like Benjy, Quentin recalls many memories, however, unlike Benjy he doesn't organize them in episodes.( I never though I'd ever use the word "organized" to describe Faulkner's writing!) His flashbacks are sparked due to sensory triggers. For instance, hearing his father's watch tick-tock, sends his mind back to when he was first given it. This watch is a very important symbol in this passage. In an article, written by Jean-Paul Satre, I learned about a concept known as clockless time, an idea brilliantly shown in Quentin's chapter. After his little time-travel episode, he walks over and break the face of the watch and frees the hands. In his mind: no more clock telling time = no more time slipping away. Nifty huh? We as human beings, never really are able to grasp the concept that time is limited until its all gone. (Unless you're an AP Lit student attempting to write a well-formatted and substance filled essay in 35 minutes!!) Faulkner certainly writes about ideas way ahead of time, which is probably the reason he is still relevant today. Well that's enough of Quentin, time to explore the mind of Jason Compson (the Compson family a**hole).
In chapter two, titled, June Second, 1910, we again are told another series of events, but this time from the point of you of Quentin. His chapter is uniquley complicated "time wise", because his mind makes both the past and the present equally relevant. Now, a little background on Quentin before I begin.. Quentin Compson is the oldest of all the Compson children. Being a Harvard boy, he is, shall we say, "Golden Child", of this family.. (He's that one annoying older brother that makes everyone else seem rather unaccomplished) Like Benjy, Caddy is a very important person in Quentin's life. This where speculation occurs that Quentin has lustful feelings towards Caddy and impregnates her. False. Though Caddy basically taught Quentin what he knows about women, he does not yearn for her in a sexual way. However, he does admit to having commit incest with Caddy, NOT to fulfill a fantasy, but to protect her from harm.. Faulkner writes, "If it could just be a hell beyond that: the clean flame the two of us more than dead. Then you will have only me then only me then the two of us amid the pointing and the horror beyond the clean flame" Committing incest sends one straight to hell, but hey, at least he'll be alone with Caddy there.
Onto chapter as a whole analysis:
Its important to realize the this chapter takes place in 1910, eighteen year prior than the one preceding it. The setting is Cambridge, Massachusetts, home to Quentin's university, the still popular today: Harvard. Like Benjy, Quentin recalls many memories, however, unlike Benjy he doesn't organize them in episodes.( I never though I'd ever use the word "organized" to describe Faulkner's writing!) His flashbacks are sparked due to sensory triggers. For instance, hearing his father's watch tick-tock, sends his mind back to when he was first given it. This watch is a very important symbol in this passage. In an article, written by Jean-Paul Satre, I learned about a concept known as clockless time, an idea brilliantly shown in Quentin's chapter. After his little time-travel episode, he walks over and break the face of the watch and frees the hands. In his mind: no more clock telling time = no more time slipping away. Nifty huh? We as human beings, never really are able to grasp the concept that time is limited until its all gone. (Unless you're an AP Lit student attempting to write a well-formatted and substance filled essay in 35 minutes!!) Faulkner certainly writes about ideas way ahead of time, which is probably the reason he is still relevant today. Well that's enough of Quentin, time to explore the mind of Jason Compson (the Compson family a**hole).
Monday, March 17, 2014
Chapter One Update: April Seventh, 1928
Faulkner certainly has a way of making his reader think... And by think, I mean sit in utter despair as I try to piece together all the events spread about in time and in text. My teacher warned that first the chapter would be an iffy one, but man, I didn't expect this. Don't get me wrong, it's fabulous writing, story telling, and set up, but it's new, very new. I've never really read a book in this format--It'll be one for the books! (Get it?!)
Anyways, moving on to the substance. This first chapter titled solely, April Seventh, 1928, is told from the perspective of Benjamin, more commonly known as Benjy. Now, Benjy is no ordinary lad of "three years old for thirty years." He is mentally handicapped, which personally, makes him all the better. From the get go, it is obvious he is a very genuine young man (think Atticus Finch from To Kill A Mockingbird). He dishes out kindness and love, but unfortunately its not reciprocated towards him.
We meet also his sister, Caddy. What we are continually told by Benjy, is that "she smelled like trees". Now at first it seems like a rather odd description, but it is not only a scent.. its a symbol. You may be thinking, a symbol?! How is a scent a symbol?? And I honestly cannot give you a clear answer, having only read the first chapter. However, what I've deciphered so far is that it, in a sense, its innocence. We read later that after Caddy kisses a boy (much more scandalous at the time), she no longer smells like trees, i.e she has lost her innocence. I think also a key point made in this first introduction to the story is Benjy and Caddy's companionship. I wouldn't exactly call it a symbiotic relationship, due to the fact that Benjy is rather dependent on her. For example, in an earlier scene, we see them at a lake. Caddy makes the observation that it is frozen, and she holds up a piece of ice in order for Benjy to comprehend how cold it is. Without Caddy there is now ice, just cold, cold bright shapes.
You may also be asking yourself, Fran, why were you sitting in utter despair after reading chapter one? Well.. when I said the chapter was written via Benjy's perspective, I do not just mean his present time perspective, I mean also in the past and the farther past, and the farthest past. Clearly, he likes to live in the past, and honestly, after meeting the rest of his family member, I would too!! Well that's all I got for now, see you next chapter!
Anyways, moving on to the substance. This first chapter titled solely, April Seventh, 1928, is told from the perspective of Benjamin, more commonly known as Benjy. Now, Benjy is no ordinary lad of "three years old for thirty years." He is mentally handicapped, which personally, makes him all the better. From the get go, it is obvious he is a very genuine young man (think Atticus Finch from To Kill A Mockingbird). He dishes out kindness and love, but unfortunately its not reciprocated towards him.
We meet also his sister, Caddy. What we are continually told by Benjy, is that "she smelled like trees". Now at first it seems like a rather odd description, but it is not only a scent.. its a symbol. You may be thinking, a symbol?! How is a scent a symbol?? And I honestly cannot give you a clear answer, having only read the first chapter. However, what I've deciphered so far is that it, in a sense, its innocence. We read later that after Caddy kisses a boy (much more scandalous at the time), she no longer smells like trees, i.e she has lost her innocence. I think also a key point made in this first introduction to the story is Benjy and Caddy's companionship. I wouldn't exactly call it a symbiotic relationship, due to the fact that Benjy is rather dependent on her. For example, in an earlier scene, we see them at a lake. Caddy makes the observation that it is frozen, and she holds up a piece of ice in order for Benjy to comprehend how cold it is. Without Caddy there is now ice, just cold, cold bright shapes.
You may also be asking yourself, Fran, why were you sitting in utter despair after reading chapter one? Well.. when I said the chapter was written via Benjy's perspective, I do not just mean his present time perspective, I mean also in the past and the farther past, and the farthest past. Clearly, he likes to live in the past, and honestly, after meeting the rest of his family member, I would too!! Well that's all I got for now, see you next chapter!
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Faulkner and the Ford Foundation
In 1952, the Ford Fountain asked Faulkner to participate in a documentary, lasting only seventeen minutes, less than your average TV show! This film focused mostly on Faulkner's life during the pinnacle of his career, including him taking home the big W aka the Library Nobel Prize. In the scene you see below, he agrees to conduct an interview with the editor of the Oxford Eagle, Mr. Phill Mullen, but states, "But no pictures." ...Clearly, Mr. Mullen was sneaky one!
This expose aired on CBS-TV's Omnibus program, a series that aired until it ended a short time ago (1952-2003).
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| Photo by Phill Mullen |
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