Dilsey / Seminar Comments
The final chapter of The Sound and the Fury is narrated in the third person, told from the point of view of Dilsey. This narration style of having Dilsey's point of view throughout the chapter makes reading the chapter easier to understand. It is direct and straightfoward, which is a nice break for reading considering the difficulty and the ambiguous feelings that came with the first chapters.
Each chapter is increasingly put together to make sense and easy to understand. First, Benjy is mentally disabled, and he can't tell the difference between past or present, which makes the reader confused as to which time period he is referring to. Despite this, he gives a fairly direct truthful state of narration of the characters in the story because he is able to only tell us what happens without mixing it up with how he feels. Next, Quentin looses his sanity throughout the chapter and ultimately kills himself. He is under immense amounts of pressure from his parents at Harvard, and he has a strong desire to "save" his sister Caddy from her marriage. He too begins to loose his sense of time. Quentin feels much more complex emotions than Benjy, or any character for that matter, which makes him quite the enigma. Third, Jason has a belief system that seems crazy and today would be seen as racist, which is the only thing that makes him hard to understand. He speaks clearly, though not always intelligently, which is a big change from either Benjy or Quentin. Finally, Dilsey's chapter is told from the third-person voice, which makes her voice easy to understand because we don't also have to try to understand her feelings or beliefs.
From the seminar in class Dilsey from what Mrs. Oles has explained is that Dilsey even though she is the slave of the family (in this time would be at the bottom of the family's household) wouldn't be taken into account. But as the you read the whole story Dilsey as Faulkner planned has an important role throughout the novel. Dilsey is the one who holds the family together, Dilsey is the one takes care of Benjy when he's crying, it's Dilsey who tells Jason to stop fighting with Caddy's daughter. It's all about Dilsey.
Faulker presented the book in order (with the exception of time) to introduce characters in an unbiased manner through Benji, and also exposing the reader to the main theme of time in the book. Quentin further gives us an insight into time, and also shows readers the other sides of the characters have, one in particular Benjy could not show. For example, we learn of the horrible pressure that Mr. and Mrs. Compson have placed on Quentin under at Harvard, which tells us that they are not the best parents. We also became aware that the idea of the south in keeping its tradition and in keeping that family's blood line is best placed on Quentin and tradition in Jason. We learn more about Caddy and her marriage, and how Quentin tried to save her from that marriage by telling her father that they had committed incest. Then, through Jason, we are able to learn even more about the characters, such as Mrs. Compson's oblivion to Jason's terrible nature. More in understood in Caddy in the present day (because Quentin's chapter was set 18 years before), and about her love for her daughter and desire to help her family, despite Jason's evil efforts to intercept the money coming from Caddy. Lastly, Dilsey's third-person narration nicely ends the story in a realistic, emotionless way that tells readers what happens. This makes the narration much more interesting because it continually changes.
The Sound and the Fury definitely parallels the Deep South in the time period in which it was written. Jason is more of the model of these southern values, mostly rooted in hatred for those who are different and deemed inferior to himself. But the progression of the narrators also shows the changing South throughout this period, from a crazy, disorienting place to a place that is much easier to understand.
Each chapter is increasingly put together to make sense and easy to understand. First, Benjy is mentally disabled, and he can't tell the difference between past or present, which makes the reader confused as to which time period he is referring to. Despite this, he gives a fairly direct truthful state of narration of the characters in the story because he is able to only tell us what happens without mixing it up with how he feels. Next, Quentin looses his sanity throughout the chapter and ultimately kills himself. He is under immense amounts of pressure from his parents at Harvard, and he has a strong desire to "save" his sister Caddy from her marriage. He too begins to loose his sense of time. Quentin feels much more complex emotions than Benjy, or any character for that matter, which makes him quite the enigma. Third, Jason has a belief system that seems crazy and today would be seen as racist, which is the only thing that makes him hard to understand. He speaks clearly, though not always intelligently, which is a big change from either Benjy or Quentin. Finally, Dilsey's chapter is told from the third-person voice, which makes her voice easy to understand because we don't also have to try to understand her feelings or beliefs.
From the seminar in class Dilsey from what Mrs. Oles has explained is that Dilsey even though she is the slave of the family (in this time would be at the bottom of the family's household) wouldn't be taken into account. But as the you read the whole story Dilsey as Faulkner planned has an important role throughout the novel. Dilsey is the one who holds the family together, Dilsey is the one takes care of Benjy when he's crying, it's Dilsey who tells Jason to stop fighting with Caddy's daughter. It's all about Dilsey.
Faulker presented the book in order (with the exception of time) to introduce characters in an unbiased manner through Benji, and also exposing the reader to the main theme of time in the book. Quentin further gives us an insight into time, and also shows readers the other sides of the characters have, one in particular Benjy could not show. For example, we learn of the horrible pressure that Mr. and Mrs. Compson have placed on Quentin under at Harvard, which tells us that they are not the best parents. We also became aware that the idea of the south in keeping its tradition and in keeping that family's blood line is best placed on Quentin and tradition in Jason. We learn more about Caddy and her marriage, and how Quentin tried to save her from that marriage by telling her father that they had committed incest. Then, through Jason, we are able to learn even more about the characters, such as Mrs. Compson's oblivion to Jason's terrible nature. More in understood in Caddy in the present day (because Quentin's chapter was set 18 years before), and about her love for her daughter and desire to help her family, despite Jason's evil efforts to intercept the money coming from Caddy. Lastly, Dilsey's third-person narration nicely ends the story in a realistic, emotionless way that tells readers what happens. This makes the narration much more interesting because it continually changes.
The Sound and the Fury definitely parallels the Deep South in the time period in which it was written. Jason is more of the model of these southern values, mostly rooted in hatred for those who are different and deemed inferior to himself. But the progression of the narrators also shows the changing South throughout this period, from a crazy, disorienting place to a place that is much easier to understand.
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