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Caaddy's Influence On Trifles

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Frank A. Clark once said, “the most important thing that parents can teach their children is how to get along without them.” Parental influence is a driving force in the social and mental development of children, providing “a strong and secure attachment… [that] is the core of developing resilience and a healthy personality. It strengthens a child’s ability to cope with stress, regulates emotions, provides social support, and forms nurturing relationships.” (Odhayani 1)
Both discipline and affection in combination with each other allow for children to learn socially acceptable behavior and thrive on the encouragement that is given to them. When in the absence of parental guidance, children ultimately gravitate toward other accessible authority …show more content…

Caddy shows a particular regard for the wellbeing of Benjy throughout the novel, which is demonstrated through her constant reminders to “keep [Benjy's] hands in [his] pockets… or they’ll get froze” (Faulkner 4). Caddy also demonstrates her affinity for power and authority in her constant pleas to “let them mind [her]” (Faulkner 16), showing her wish to be seen as a maternal figure to Benjy, Jason, and even Quentin despite the disparity in age between the two. As an adult, Caddy's association with motherhood is enhanced with the birth of Miss Quentin, whose name also provides a link between Caddy's biological child and her brother who she mothered in her childhood. Mrs. Compson, when faced with Miss Quentin's disappearance, laments that “the minute they named her Quentin” (Faulkner 176), the baby girl was intrinsically connected to Quentin Compson. This shows that in terms of The Sound and The Fury, Miss Quentin is a figurative reincarnation of her late uncle Quentin by association with their shared name. Because Caddy is Miss Quentin’s biological mother, her role is extended to her guidance and nurturing of her …show more content…

Quentin’s meeting with three friends fishing serves to symbolize the Compson boys and their desire for Caddy. The boys represent Jason, who claimed “[he] wouldnt take the rod… [he]’d take the money instead” (Faulkner 74), symbolizing his greed; Quentin, the boy that anxiously wondered if one could actually “get twenty-five dollars for that pole” (Faulkner 72), showing his preoccupation with inconsequential details; and Benjy, the boy who, in contrast with the others’ hypothetical thinking, observed that “he hasn't caught that trout yet” (Faulkner 72), showing the straightforward way in which the Benjy section was narrated. While the boys are aware that “they've been trying to catch that trout for twenty-five years” (Faulkner 74) with no results, their ultimate goal remains to catch the fish and claim the prize of a twenty-five dollar rod. The sexually symbolic connotations of a fish are quite common, especially in reference to women based on associations of Aphrodite, the goddess of sexuality and love, rising out of the sea. In Thomaso, it is said that “a chaste woman is fish, and may be eaten in Lent.” These implications, along with the phallic imagery of an expensive fishing rod used to catch such fish, allude to sexual desires that will never come to fruition, hence “nobody [being able to] catch that fish”

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