The Sound and The Fury by William Faulkner

Introduction

William Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury is a very complex novel that has invited both praise and criticism. Investigating the themes of male dominance and the thwarted development of the female character Caddy Compson can help unravel some of the novel's complexities. The importance of the work can be found in its psychological dynamics, portrayed through the characters' methods of dealing with their internal burdens. How the characters act, and interact, brings to life Faulkner's story of Caddy Compson and the Compson family. An examination of the thwarted development of Caddy, from a warm and lively child to a cold, damned, and mute adult woman, enriches an understanding of her fate. Analysis from a psychoanalytical viewpoint reveals an internal battle between man and his anima, both for the male characters of the novel, as well as for the author of the work.

The novel is divided into four sections, three of which each brother narrates. An omniscient narrator reports the fourth section and the Appendix. Confusion arises at the very beginning of the novel when Benjy, a thirty-three year old idiot, begins his account of the story. Without any warning of this, the narration ofthe first section is very difficult to comprehend. Faulkner adds to the work a narrative style that ignores common rules of punctuation and fills the work with symbolism. However, the complexity of the work becomes more apparent through an examination of the characters and how they interact with each other. Faulkner engages problems of gender, not only as the cultural institutionalization of sexual difference but, further, as a historical predicate for both social power and cultural dysfunction (Porter 169).

The main character in The Sound and the Fury is the narrators' sister, Caddy Compson. Faulkner does not provide her with her own voice. She comes to life and exists only through her brothers' narration and through the information provided in the Appendix. Caddy's life is not simple. She begins as a normal and happy child, but her development throughout the novel is thwarted by the maligned male dominated narration.

There remains throughout the novel a constant tension, perhaps more clearly labeled a battle, between the male narrators and the female character Caddy. In the Benjy section, the young and vibrant Caddy is forced into a role of motherhood for her brother Benjy, who, retarded, is trapped in a permanent state of childhood. He seeks to prevent her from maturing and leaving him, thereby trapping her in a female role of dependence. The Quentin section reveals a brother who also seeks, with incestuous desire, to prevent Caddy from developing normally and from maturing sexually. He classifies her as a whore, and after he is unable to prevent her sexual experiences with other men, commits suicide. The Jason section reveals Caddy as a bitch. Jason strips her of her right to motherhood, taking control of her illegitimate child and forcing her away from the family. The Appendix leaves Caddy emotionless, ...