Four Contrasting Viewpoints In The Sound And The Fury
In the short monologue from William Shakespeare’s tragedy, Macbeth, the title character likens life to a “tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury.” Benjy, a thirty-three year old idiot, begins to relate William Faulkner’s unfortunate tale of the Compson family in The Sound and the Fury. Just as it is a story told by an imbecile, it is one characterized by “sound” and “fury.” Benjy’s meaningless utterances and reliance on his auditory senses, the perpetual ticking of clocks, Quentin’s mysterious bantering, the insignificant accompaniment. Jason’s lust for power and control, the inescapable nemesis of time, Miss Quentin’s rebellious attitude. The Compson family in its entirety is ...
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the minds of his deeply disturbed characters.
April seventh, nineteen-hundred-and-twenty-eight…or is it? Benjamin, formerly Maury, presents a disjointed account of his life between his early childhood just around the turn of the century and up until 1910, mainly focusing on his relationship with his sister, Candace. His sense of time is nonexistent: he confuses the past with the present. He is literal: he has no knowledge of connotation. His descriptions are that of a small child and represent the world as it might seem to a person who has been cut off from all things civilized. One of Benjy’s most vivid memories is drunkenness: “…I ran into the box. But when I tried to climb onto it it jumped away and hit me on the back of the head and my throat made a sound” (Faulkner 40). His interpretations, in general, are simplistic and this is clearly reflected in the way he describes his experience with alcohol. The loss of control that is associated with inebriation is new to Benjy, ...
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which he eventually discovers is inevitable. His dark, mysterious narration is centered about the events leading up to 1910, and places emphasis on his desire to preserve his sister’s innocence as well as his role as the “walking shadow” of the Compson family. “The shadow hadn’t quite cleared the stoop. I stopped inside the door, watching the shadow move. It moved almost imperceptibly, creeping back inside the door, driving the shadow back into the door” (Faulkner 81). Quentin dwells on darkness and encloses himself in shadows. These shadows have a way of preventing him from forgetting that time is constantly looming over him, like a dark cloud that reminds him, as well as the ...
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"Four Contrasting Viewpoints In The Sound And The Fury." Essayworld.com. February 18, 2007. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Four-Contrasting-Viewpoints-In-Sound-Fury/60501.
"Four Contrasting Viewpoints In The Sound And The Fury." Essayworld.com. February 18, 2007. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Four-Contrasting-Viewpoints-In-Sound-Fury/60501.
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