Noise and Anger By William Faulkner
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| Noise and Anger By William Faulkner |
Main characters
Cady -
The book tells her story in the first three sections examining parts of her childhood and continues growing up with her illegitimate daughter in the third section.
Benjy -
He is the narrator of Division One and 33 at the time, but suffers from a mental illness which renders him deaf and mute.
Quentin –
The second division narrator during his freshman year at Harvard, during which he committed suicide.
Jason -
He is the brother of the previous three main characters and the narrator of the third section describing his relationship with Cady and her daughter.
Secondary characters
Delsey-
is a black maid from the Compson family who sees her destiny in the Fourth Section.
Caroline Compson -
is the mother of the main character and a hypocrite.
Three main configurations
Compson House -
Most of the story takes place here in the Compson family home.
BOSTON —
The Second Division unfolds in Boston as Quentin prepares for his suicide.
Mottstown -
Parts of Section IV take place here when Jason tracks down Miss Quentin in an attempt to recover the money she stole from him.
Plot
The book begins with a portion narrated by Benji. The narrative moves back and forth in time because Benjy, being an idiot, has no sense of time. Presently, Benji is 33 years old. However, we do see incidents from his past experiences, such as Damuddy's funeral and various experiences with Caddy. Near the end of his oath, he is arrested for sexually assaulting a girl and we find out that he was castrated later in the book. As for the second section, it was narrated by Quentin and shows his preparations for his suicide. At the beginning of the clip, he breaks his watch in an attempt to escape from time. He prepares his suicide diary and gives it to Dickon, who asks him to return the notes the next day. He drives through Boston but is arrested for trying to take a young Italian girl home. He fights with a man named Gerald Bland and then drowns. The third was narrated by Jason. This shows how he takes Cady's money allotted to Quentin. It also shows the evolution of Quentin's sexuality and rebellion. Jason tries to partially discipline her, but this seems to be more entertainment than interest in the girl. The fourth section is from an omniscient point of view and focuses heavily on Delsey. Delsey attends Easter Mass, where she hears the preacher giving a sermon that reflects the Compsons. Through the sermon, you also see the inevitable doom facing the Compson family. This section also follows Jason to Mottstown after Quentin, from whom he stole $7,000.
Symbols
Quentin Clock - The clock given to him by his father and symbolizes life and time. By breaking the clock, Quentin attempts to escape time and ultimately life from it.
Dilsey - Dilsey symbolizes the only form of reason and logic in the House of Compson. All the other characters are doomed to live useless lives, but she sees the fall without experiencing it herself.
Style
Faulkner's style in this novel is very unconventional. He organized the novel into four sections which do not contain the typical temporal portion, but show parts of the story at any point in any time period. His writing is so characteristic of the narrator that Benji just writes from a very objective point of view, Quentin being neurotic and Jason sadistic.
Philosophy
In this book, Faulkner shows the tragic downfall of the family in this book. It seems to warn of the weakening of family ties, indicating one of the main causes of the Compson House tragedy.
Quotes
“They took the flag out, and they were hitting. Then they put the flag back and they went to the table, and he hit and the other hit. Then they went on, and I went along the fence.” Benjy narrates this section in the beginning of the book showing his viewpoint of what seems to be golfers.
“When the shadow of the sash appeared in the curtains it was between seven and eight oclock and then I was in time again, hearing the watch. It was Grandfather’s and when Father gave it to me he said I give you the mausoleum of all hope and desire; it’s rather excruciatingly apt that you will use it to gain the reducto absurdum of all human experience which can fit your individual needs no better than it fitted his or his father’s. I give it to you not that you may remember time, but that you might forget it now and then for a moment and not spend all your breath trying to conquer it.” Quentin narrates this section reflecting on his watch and the time when his father gave it to him.
“Once a b---- always a b----, what I saw. I says you’re lucky if her playing out of school is all that worries you. I says she ought to be down there in that kitchen right now, instead of up there in her room, gobbing paint on her face and waiting for six niggers that cant even stand up out of a chair unless they’ve got a pan full of bread and meat to balance them, to fix breakfast for her.” This begins the section narrated by Jason and introduces Quentin, Caddy’s daughter.
“In the midst of the voices and the hands Ben sat, rapt in his sweet blue gaze. Dilsey sat bolt upright beside, crying rigidly and quietly in the annealment that the blood of the remembered Lamb.” This is the author narrating in the fourth section during the Easter service.
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