In Faulker's The Sound and the Fury, Caddy, the central figure, is never given a voice. Instead, his character is revealed through the tales of his three brothers. Because the novel is largely surrounded by the concept of alternating truths, these three perspectives take on very different angles. Using the three different narratives, Faulkner emphasizes the individuality of man, even among family members, and facilitates this idea of alternating truths: that truth is essentially subjective in nature and depends heavily on the eye of the beholder. The fact that Caddy does not have a voice forces the reader to look at the perspectives of Benjy, Quentin, and Jason and come up with their own vision of who the real Caddy is. These three brothers have very different personalities and levels of intelligence and as a result some very dichotomous views of Caddy are put forward. She's a mother figure, a whore, the only thing pure, a case of lost innocence, or many other things depending on which of her brothers you believe yourself to be. But despite their disagreement over the quality of her character, all the brothers constantly remember Caddy a lot and are tormented by her memory in one way or another. They complain about his loss of innocence or his flight into adulthood or something else that makes them feel violated or unsafe. The reader ascertains each narrator's feelings towards Caddy through reflections, and in these reflections we can understand and learn as much about the narrator as we can about Caddy. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay In Benjy's case, Caddy simply defines his existence. Throughout his section there are constant references to Caddy and events involving his presence. Caddy's first appearance in the novel occurs when Benjy remembers telling her: Keep your hands in your pockets... or they'll freeze... You don't want your hands to freeze at Christmas, do you? She immediately presents herself as caring and maternal. Caddy means so much to Benjy because she is the only one who respects him and tries to understand his mental distress. The other characters in the novel have a tendency to talk to him in a low tone or yell at him to shut up because they don't understand how his mind works. Shut up. Frony said. You need to be whipped, that's what you need.(20) Others can't understand what he wants when he screams. His only form of expression is screaming and crying, but Caddy is able to read his emotions and determine what he wants. Benjy remembers a time when he started screaming because Caddy had perfume on. He is able to recognize what is troubling him and washes away the scent just to put his mind at ease. Obviously Caddy won't do that. Of course Caddy won't (wear the perfume)...Dilsey...Benjy has a gift for you. He bent down and placed the bottle in my hand. Present it to Dilsey, now... We don't like perfumes either. (27) Here Caddy is revealed as Benjy's protector and the only person who will give of herself to ensure his happiness. It also shows Benjy's obsession with routine. As a result of Benjy's mental state, change is a disturbing force for him. In his little world, made up of a very limited number of people and spaces, it is better for everything to function regularly and for him to have access to the few things that give him pleasure. He likes Caddy as she is and wants her to remain in her one-dimensional, timeless existence without changing. His maturation and experiment with perfume become areas of sadness and cause him to cry. You're a big boy. Dilsey said. Caddy is tired of sleeping with you. Be quiet now, so you can go to sleep... but I didn't shut up... (28) This memory is particularlysignificant because having someone to sleep with to feel comfortable and safe is something we normally associate early childhood with. But Benjy has no desire to break out of that shell. His obsession with routine and norm makes it impossible for him to truly grow and results in his fixed state over time. The fact that he lives in this fixed state becomes problematic due to the fact that Caddy is his only mother figure. Not only does she protect him and sleep with him, but she takes care of him, defends him and provides for his happiness. Is mom very sick? Caddy said. No. Dad said. Will you take good care of Maury? Yes, said Caddy. (p. 48) Although it is good for Benjy to have this mother figure, it becomes dangerous because, unlike a normal mother, Caddy cannot stick around for a long time. He eventually leaves home and subsequently leaves his brother and his little world. This has a dramatic effect on Benjy as he spends most of his time waiting for Caddy to return and thinking about her because he doesn't understand why she had to leave. We understand this to mean that his focus is so narrow that he cannot fathom the real world and the expanse beyond the Compson house. He lives exclusively on a decadent estate and goes through life as if it were a day, almost oblivious to the meltdown occurring within the family around him. Quentin's section introduces the reader to a more intellectually advanced response to Caddy. Like Benjy, Quentin has many memories of Caddy and struggles with some of the same attachments and desires. They are so similar in their obsession with their sister that it's almost fair to say that Quentin's section is the intellectual extension of his brother's. He feels and behaves very similarly to how one might imagine Benjy if he were mentally capable. Quentin's first memory of Caddy illustrates this extension beyond Benjy's capabilities. I committed incest, I said dad, it was me, not Dalton Ames. (51) Here he recalls confessing to having committed incest with Caddy to his father, which in reality never happened. But the fact that he confesses it indicates his almost sexual feelings for his sister and also his borderline insanity. Due to the explicit nature of the comment, it cannot even be guaranteed that he actually made such a confession. It's possible that he was imagining what it would be like to confess something like that to his father. Regardless, this scene takes the strong feelings Benjy has for Caddy, which are so pure due to their naivety and ignorance, and twists them into a highly intellectual and contemplative mind. His sexual feelings, however, are confused, because they are only being brought up. of the desire to protect her from the world. Only you and me then amidst the pointing and horror walled by the clean flame.(74) The caddy's promiscuity and blossoming sexuality torment Quentin to the point that he cannot function normally. He confuses his pain over her committing sexual acts with others and the influences around him that try to convince him that virginity and innocence are fictions and simply meaningless inventions of men. He said men invented virginity, not women. The Father said that it is like death: only a state in which others remain.(50) Purity is a negative state and therefore contrary to nature. It's nature that hurts you, not Caddy... (74) His memories of Caddy reveal that he tries to combat his pain over his sexuality by trying to isolate himself with her. Quentin shot Herbert, shot his voice across the floor of Caddy's room. (67) He tries to chase away all the men she is involved with and at one point even imagines threatening Dalton Ames to leave town. Ina setting reminiscent of an old western movie, Quentin imagines facing Dalton Ames and protecting his sister, which most likely didn't actually happen. Her struggle is analogous to that of someone trying to put their finger on a leaky faucet as they want to temporarily stop the flow of men into Caddy's life. He remembers conversations with her in which he talked about running away together. About what money from your school, the money you sold the pasture for so you could go to Harvard...(79) Quentin gives voice to Caddy and brings the reader back to reality from Quentin's daydreams and contemplations while she rejects his proposal and tries to make him understand what he should focus on in life. Here we see Quentin's memories and speeches become confused and frenetic as the section progresses. Thinking about Caddy gradually makes him frantic and disorganized in his thought pattern. Quentin is ideological because he is obsessed with protecting Caddy, but with no real solution or outcome. Through his references to Caddy's sexual experiences that he witnesses, the reader becomes aware of the high price Quentin places on her virginity and the self-torment he inflicts on her. He overemphasizes the importance of her remaining pure and inflates her in a way that causes more internal pain. Her head against the twilight her arms behind her head kimono wings the voice breathing other clothes of Eden on the bed near the nose seen above the apple.(67) Quentin illustrates the images of the Garden of Eden when he describes her while he makes love to someone else and in this he demonstrates the high meaning he attributes to the act. The fact that he watches also describes his apparent level of jealousy and a self-destructive desire to crush himself emotionally. After two sections in which the narrators are in love or infatuated with Caddy, Jason provides a strong contrast to this mindset right from the opening. lines. Once a bitch always a bitch, what I say.(117) Although this comment is in reference to Miss Quentin, Caddy's daughter, Jason's attitude towards the two goes hand in hand. He labels Caddy and her daughter with selfish promiscuity and considers their behavior the main reason for the Compson family's declining reputation. In complete contrast to his two brothers, Jason feels no love towards his sister and doesn't care about protecting her from damaging her personal reputation or getting involved with the wrong kind of man. His only concern is how her actions reflect on him and the family name. Jason's memories of Caddy's character are much fewer than those of his brothers and are usually presented indirectly through his mother. “You don't know,” Mom says. Seeing my daughter abandoned by her husband. “Poor innocent child,” he says, looking at Quentin. “You will never know the suffering you have caused.” (125) Due to his naturally selfish and mean personality and the fact that he is mainly surrounded by his mother, who has this kind of attitude towards her daughter, Jason develops a very condescending opinion towards Caddy. His memories are very rarely a direct conversation with Caddy, but rather follow the idea that he has internalized his mother's morally distorted sermons. He tries to avoid Caddy and also blames her for the downfall of the Compson family. Mrs. Compson tends to isolate Jason as her only good son and thus gives Jason justification to continue behaving in his cynical, blaming way. In an important memory, we see Jason's character fully revealed as he responds to a request made by Caddy. She remembers the day of Quentin's funeral when Caddy comes to pay her respects and meets Jason in the.
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