Quentin's Struggle in The Sound and the Fury
Too much happens...Man performs, engenders so much more than he can or should have to bear.
That's how he finds that he can bear anything. William Faulkner (Fitzhenry 12)
In Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury, we are given a character known as Quentin, one who helps us more fully understand the words of the author when delivering his Nobel Prize acceptance speech "The young man or woman writing today has forgotten the problems of the human heart in conflict with itself" (The Faulkner Reader 3). Quentin engenders so much more than he can or should have to bear, as the opening quote by Faulkner suggests is the fate of all humans, but he does not discover he
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We see him write the necessary letters, lay out his suits, stacks his books, and pack his clothes. Quentin is not concerned with the external realities, only those in his internal imagination. He has fictionalized and fantasize external reality to the point where reality to him is internal only. Quentin cannot bear real time so he wishes to lose time, which will culminate in his suicide. We see the absurdity which the human condition involves, which Quentin cannot endure, when his father gives him his grandfather's watch:
I give you the mausoleum of all hope and desire; it's rather excrutiating-ly 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. Because no battle is ever won he said. They are not even fought. The field only reveals to man his own folly and despair, and victory is an illusion of philosophers and fools.
(Faulkner 95)
Likewise, Quentin's most elaborate internal fabrication is his belief that he has committed incest with Caddy. It is his most elaborate internal fiction and the one which causes him the most conflict and pain. Quentin is actually separated from human activity externally. He
The characters in The Sound and the Fury, by William Faulkner, are psychologically complex, haunted, prone to spells of vanity and desires, and ultimately tragic. Always one to play the role of the noble Southern gentleman, Quentin Compson III is passionate and neurotic, consumed with the ideal Southern values of chivalry and honor. Quentin is tormented by his father’s nihilistic philosophy and degradation of women and African Americans, as Jason Compson III provides no moral compass to steer Quentin away from the storms of his chaotic thoughts. Rational, cold, and calculating, Jason Compson IV is a cruel and racist man who will stop at nothing to ensure financial success. Caddy Compson, unlike her hypochondriac Mother,
This line in the book describes the final characteristic of mans’ attitude - fear. The Time Machine is saying that mankind, even when
Question: Rewrite your Martin Guerre essay with relevance to whether the ideologies of society if being reinforced or challenged; make sure to mention in respect to the book’s context, contemporary society and your own context.
This quote not only demonstrates Quentin's concern for his dear sister Caddy, but traditional Southern values. First of all, it is evident that Quentin, much like Benji, cares deeply for Caddy. In contrast, however, Quentin's reaction to Caddy's loss of innocence isn't just sadness like Benji, but rather depression accompanied by rage. Throughout this chapter, memories of Caddy are strategically interjected. This particular quote, reflecting his fixation on Caddy's loss of virginity. He compares Caddy to an African American women, who at the time were viewed unfavorably
“As we learn in the story, being mired in the ‘eternal present’ carries with it dangerous and devastating consequences” (Theriot 59).
New ideas derived from self-reflection enable us to develop in ways that are spiritually linked to the future. The inexorable passage of adulthood is established by the motif of time, indicating that life is continuously moving forward. The personification of time “guiltless minute hand” suggest that time is not responsible for our future, but we are. Additionally, the dysphemistic personification of “time was killed” foreshadows the cessation of childhood. Eventually, the
“Weakness of attitude is weakness of character”.(Albert Einstein) In Laura Hillenbrand’s Book Unbroken Louie Zampermini shows his resourcefulness when he and other POWs refuse to work outside the camp and he convinces the bird to let them work in the camp shows that Louie was a determined and this personifies Einstein's words as well as showing his resourcefulness. The proof that Louie refused to give up to stop fighting shows exactly how much character attitude and resourcefulness Louie had. This unforgettable tale of how Louie would not quite and would fight his demons directly or indirectly in clever ways to his own breaking point through the toughest of times that we cannot even imagine.
Bradbury and Ursula Le Guin, demonstrate the suffering that the protagonist endures in order to
Upon receiving the Nobel Prize for his excellence in writing, William Faulkner expresses his dismay towards the writers of the day and laid out what he terms “the writer’s duty.” In his acceptance speech, Faulkner is disheartened by the fact that young writers continue to discuss “the end of man” in their work. Faulkner advocates that authors must make all efforts to “help man endure by lifting his heart.” Because man leads a difficult life, writers are obligated to use their work to uplift and inspire the reader’s sprit. In his memoir, Angela’s Ashes, Frank McCourt raises the reader’s spirits by illustrating that although one may have a reprobate nature,
Faulkner proves us that it is impossible to sruggle with one's own heart . The moment when Sarty decided to choose morality over the blood pool and warned the de Spain's revealed his true character. Though this meant the death of his
Throughout Quentin’s section, the descriptions of his present day-to-day actions show how he lives a life that has order, with an average person’s problems. He narrates with a calm and controlled tone at times, “I bathed and shaved… I put on my new suit…” (Faulkner 51). These everyday actions are a
We must never speak of the times before the Great Rebirth, else we are sentenced to three years in the Palace of Corrective Detention. It is only the Old Ones who whisper about it in the evenings, in the Home of the Useless. They whisper many strange things, of the towers which rose to the sky, in those Unmentionable Times, and of the wagons which moved without horses, and of the lights which burned without flame.
"'It seems, if I hear right, that you can see/ beforehand that which time is carrying,/ but you're denied the sight of present things.'/ ŒWe see, even as men who are farsighted,/ those things,' he said, Œthat are remote from us;/ the Highest Lord allots us that much light./ But when events draw near or are, our minds/ are useless; were we not informed by others,/ we should know nothing of your human state./ So you can understand how our awareness/ will die completely at the moment when/ the portal of the future has been shut'" (X, 97-108).
Faulkner uses a system of italics to show Quentin's innermost revelations; as he shifts from thoughts of virginity to more personal memories, the language changes from an encompassing statement about women to a singular elucidation of his sister. The first piece of italic language punctuates a piece of dialogue and immediately implies a question of virginity. "ever do that Have you ever done that In the gray darkness a little light her hands locked about" (93) is the repetition of Caddy's question to Quentin on whether or not he had ever had sex. Faulkner continuously inserts the image of Caddy sitting on the ground next to her brother with her hands locked around her knees. Strangely, the image brings a sense of chastity to a sexually charged situation, as if she is locking her knees together to insist against any improper movements towards the contrary. The next piece of language, again interrupting a friendly dialogue between friends, has "her face looking at the sky the smell of honeysuckle upon her face and throat." Faulkner sets the reader up for the continuation of a few themes be these beginning interceptions into normal conversation. Her face looking up at the sky, the smell of honeysuckle, the gray darkness or light - all these descriptions continue to be executed in the remaining consciousness language. Moreover, honeysuckle and gray light
In a deep echoing god like voice Chrono honors me with the best advice the Greek god of time could give, “Use my time wisely or before you know it, your time will be up mortal.”