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). 

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!

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).

Photo by Phill Mullen