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).