Images in The Sound and the Fury

Bass, Eben. “Meaningful Images in The Sound and the Fury.” Modern Language Notes 76.8 (1961): 728-731.

Bass’s article focuses specifically on a few objects in The Sound and the Fury that hold especially special significance to characters in the story. A particularly interesting symbol which Bass focused on was Caddy’s slipper, which Benjy insists on holding on to throughout the chronologically later parts of the novel. Bass notices that “since Quentin the niece objects to the idiot’s fondling it, dirty as it is, during mealtime, we may judge her dislike for her mother” (Bass 729).

The slipper is essentially presented as a symbol of Caddy’s and eventually Quentin’s downfalls. The slipper is Caddy’s wedding slipper. What else could a “white satin slipper” (Faulkner 332) be for? When Quentin sees the slipper, she associates it with hatred and negative feelings for her mother. Benjy, on the other hand, needs it, for it is one of the few remaining meaningful memories he has of his beloved sister. Caddy is not just a disgrace for Quentin—as it is a symbol of Quentin’s now-dysfunctional childhood with the Compsons—but a symbol of disgrace for the entire Compson family. The especially damning aspect of it is the fact that it is the slipper likely worn by Caddy to her wedding to Herbert—the wedding that preceded a marriage doomed to fail as a result of Caddy’s promiscuity.

We learn that Ms. Compson has officially edicted that the name “Caddy” not be spoken in the Compson household. Benjy, though, needs some way to hang on to memories of his long-gone sister. No one else in the house likes to think about her, but Benjy needs to. Caddy was the only person in his life to really show him true affection. He needs to hold on to the slipper to hold on to his memories of happier times. For the rest of the family, especially Quentin, the constant presence of this slipper in the house is a haunting reminder of Caddy’s fate.

Since Quentin is the reason that Caddy’s marriage didn’t work, the presence of Caddy’s wedding slipper causes tension. Its constant presence and Quentin’s dislike for it foreshadow the parallels between Caddy’s and Quentin’s illicit affairs and eventual downfalls. There is a reason that Faulkner waits until nearer to the end of the novel to unveil that “the slipper that consoles Benjy is reavealed as Caddy’s wedding slipper only when the daughter whose birth wrecked that marriage turns out badly herself” (Bass 729-730).

Bass points out that the slipper, along with other images such as the pear tree on the Compson’s property, and the mirror and the fire in the Compson’s library, serve to “unite whole segments of the novel” (Bass 731). The fact that Faulkner hides and obscures the perspicuity of such images actually lends to their strength. By allowing the reader to subconsciously add meaning to these images him- or herself, the images actually become stronger, as the reader views the objects in a manner far more similar to the way the characters in the story do than if Faulkner were to explain the meanings of the images. (525)

The Narratorial Perspective of Benjy

The narratorial perspective of the first section of the story offers the reader an in-depth view into the life of the severely handicapped Benjy. The section is presented in a “stream of consciousness” style in which the reader is subjected to constant flashbacks, flashbacks within flashbacks, and flash-forwards. The reader is allowed very little help in determining what year, month, and day the events in which the flashbacks take place. Instead, the reader must use context clues (such as the presence or absence of certain characters) in a given section in order to determine the general timescale of the flashback. Additionally, Benjy “records” events accurately—or at least we have to assume that he does—but he fails to analyze them in any way, often leaving it to the reader to decipher from the text what is actually happening. For the first section of The Sound and the Fury, great responsibility is thrust upon to reader to determine what in the world in going on, mainly because of the odd and severely handicapped style of narration that Benjy provides.

Firstly, we will deal with Benji’s accurate recording of events, but inability to understand them. For example, when Quentin catches Benjy drunk in the barn with T.P., he forces Benjy to drink something. He says “It was hot on my chin and on my shirt”(11.1) and that then “It was hot inside me”(11.1) The reader should interpret that Quentin is making Benjy drink coffee—a hot beverage that was believed to ameliorate drunkenness—but Benjy nevers actually is aware that is it coffee or even of what is happening to him. This type of situation is typical to this section. William Faulkner is almost playing a game with the reader through Benjy, challenging the reader to interpret the events for him- or herself.

Nextly, we will deal with the crafty time changes that Faulkner throws in. We can hypothesize that the reasons the events are so out of order is because Benjy’s mental handicaps prevent him for staying mentally in the present. Since the story is “stream of consciousness” we can assume that Benjy is experiencing the flashbacks with us, as though he is standing dumbly in the present re-living past events as though they are occurring at the moment. Faulkner allows the readers some clues as to when each event is taking place when. The greatest key is the presence of one of Benjy’s caretakers: either T.P., Versh, or Luster. Sections with Versh occur when Benjy is a small child. Sections with T.P. occur when Benjy is teen-aged. Sections with Luster occur when Benjy is an adult and in the novel’s “present.”

Faulkner does a good job presenting the events of the novel from the viewpoint of someone with no concept or time or chronology and who is incapable of interpreting events in any meaningful way. Benjy, acts as a tape recorder: we’re a series of events to be recorded on a tape recorder with no commentary and no real video, it would be possible to determine from the recording what was happening, but not without in depth thought, extensive use of context clues, and a careful attention to the text.