Soung And That Fury :: essays research papers

There are four Compson children, and four chapters in The Sound and the Fury. Each of the three previous chapters has been narrated by one of the Compson children; the only one left is Caddy. Since Caddy is in many ways the most important character in the book, it would be natural to expect Caddy to be the narrator of the fourth section. But instead, Caddy is cut out of the novel completely: this chapter is narrated by a third-person omniscient narrator, and the focus of the section, bewilderingly, is on Dilsey, the Compsons' Negro cook. The end of the novel, and the symbolic ending of the Compson clan, does not occur with a climactic bang, but rather with a kind of fizzling away into insignificance. Jason's loss of the seven thousand dollars--four of which did not belong to him (hence his claim to the sheriff that he had lost three thousand dollars)--and his subsequent, ineffectual chase of Miss Quentin and the man in the red tie are hardly exciting, moving, or tragic events. More important is Dilsey's simple, strong, protective presence, the only thing holding the Compson family together. Dilsey's simple piety enables her to love Benjy and feel unashamed when she takes him to church. Faulkner once called the Compsons "tragic" people and Dilsey a "good" person. This contrast sheds light on the roles of the characters throughout the novel. Dilsey is not obsessed with the passage of time, and is not overcome by the chaos of experience in the same way as the "tragic" characters. Rather, she simply endures through happiness and sadness with the same incorruptible faith and the same will to protect those she cares about. For just a split second at the end of the novel we are taken back into the mind of Benjy,