The Sound and the Fury

Facts Published in 1929 Considered one of William Faulkner’s best works and a major role in his winning the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1949 In 1998, the Modern Library ranked it sixth on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century.

Title Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow, Creeps in this petty pace from day to day To the last syllable of recorded time, And all our yesterdays have lighted fools The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle! Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage And then is heard no more: it is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing.

Setting Time: 1898-1928 Place: Jefferson, Mississippi

Central Conflict The Compson family struggles to deal with the loss of their reputation as one of the great Southern aristocratic families due to many shameful acts of the family members. Financial ruin Loss of religious faith Tragic death

Style Modernist Southern Renaissance Stream-of-consciousness/interior monologue Non-chronological narrative Four narrators

James Joyce, Ulysses a quarter after what an unearthly hour I suppose theyre just getting up in China now combing out their pigtails for the day well soon have the nuns ringing the angelus theyve nobody coming in to spoil their sleep except an odd priest or two for his night office the alarmlock next door at cockshout clattering the brains out of itself let me see if I can doze off 1 2 3 4 5 what kind of flowers are those they invented like the stars the wallpaper in Lombard street was much nicer the apron he gave me was like that something only I only wore it twice better lower this lamp and try again so that I can get up early

Characters Jason Compson III: a lawyer and a cynical alcoholic Caroline Bascomb Compson: an extremely self-absorbed hypochondriac who only loves Jason Quentin Compson III: passionate and neurotic, a student at Harvard Candace “Caddy” Compson: strong-willed and caring; her husband divorced her because her child was not his Jason Compson IV: the provider for the Compson family, making him cynical and bitter

Miss Quentin Compson: Caddy’s illegitimate daughter Benjamin “Benjy” Compson: a 33-year-old “idiot,” a source of shame to his family Miss Quentin Compson: Caddy’s illegitimate daughter Dilsey Gibson: an important black servant of the family Versh, Frony, TP, Luster

April 7, 1928: Benjy A series of non-chronological events in a stream of consciousness/interior monologue The author writes exactly the way characters think with no regard for chronology, punctuation, etc. Though confusing, this section is the most honest portrayal of the family’s true motivations. Several traumatic events are described.

Shifts in the narrative are indicated by italics. The names of Benjy’s caretakers indicate when an event is taking place. Versh: infancy and childhood TP: adolescence Luster: adulthood Benjy, like his other brothers, is obsessed with Caddy.

June 2, 1910: Quentin The narrative alternates between Quentin at Harvard and his memories Some readers find this section more confusing than Benjy’s, especially toward the end. Quentin is depressed due to his inability to save Caddy from her loss of purity or his family’s reputation due to Caddy’s actions.

April 6, 1928: Jason Takes place on Good Friday Narrated in a straightforward, linear fashion He takes the day off work to search for Miss Quentin, who seems to take after her mother

April 8, 1928 Takes place on Easter Sunday The only section with a third-person narrator The section focuses on Dilsey and her ability to draw strength from her religious faith. Dilsey takes her children and Benjy to the “colored” church.

Themes The corruption of Southern aristocratic values Failed sons, disgraced daughters, anger between white and black people Resurrection and renewal Three sections take place around Easter, and several of the characters can be interpreted as Christ figures. The failure of language and narrative Faulkner uses four different narrators to tell the story, and it’s still confusing.

Time Order and chaos Shadows Water

William Faulkner (1897-1962) Won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1949 Donated part of his Nobel money "to establish a fund to support and encourage new fiction writers", eventually resulting in the PEN/ Faulkner Award for Fiction, and donated another part to a local bank, establishing a scholarship for African-American teachers

Comment on the novel’s structure Comment on the novel’s structure. What does Faulkner accomplish by choosing an unconventional narrative style?