A sensitive and intelligent boy, quentin is preoccupied with his love for his sister caddy and his notion of the compson familys honor. The composition of the sound and the fury michael millgate. You can read the book, or watch the movie, and easily have no idea what its about. We use cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. The book, about the extremely dysfunctional compson family, is set in the deep south during the early 1900s. About the book its the book faulkner said began without a plot.
When the narrator describes it in the novels last section, we see it from the outside as a square, paintless house with its rotting portico 298. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance. Quentin is the only character in the novel who is concerned with honor, with justice, and with love. The first section of the novel is narrated by benjamin benjy compson. Quentin compson in the sound and the fury may cameron brown. Compson says, i was forced to sell our furniture 262, so inside the house is also defined by the contrast between what it once was and its present dilapidation. In my own study of this novel, i found the following to be quite helpful. Compson is the head of the compson family, a family of distinguished ancestry including a governor and a brigadier general. Compson is the first clear sign of decay in the family oppressed by the traditions. His keepers say, he been three years old thirty years faulkner 17. A time the themes in the sound and the fury are so closely interwoven with the characters and structure of the novel that it is difficult to separate these elements.
The sound and the fury, novel by william faulkner, published in 1929, that details the destruction and downfall of the aristocratic compson family from four different points of view. Were considering expanding this synopsis into a fulllength study guide to deepen your comprehension of the book and why its important. The sound and the fury vintage international kindle. This is the most difficult book i have read and i intend to return to it again. Compson tells him that virginity is invented by men and should not be taken seriously. Compson maintains that life is essentially useless and that there are no values in life outside those of personal pleasure and acting the role of. The sound and the fury is an american drama film directed by james franco. The sound and the fury 2014 the sound and the fury. The novel is divided into four sections, each told by a different character. Quentin, the oldest of the compson children, is like shakespeares hamlet. Decline sets in and accelerates with the novels mr. Griffin in his 1963 essay in essays in modern american literature.
Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading the sound and the fury vintage international. Monkeynotesthe sound and the fury by william faulkner. The sound and the fury is a novel written by the american author william faulkner. What i am not sure of, however, is if there is meant to be such an odd layout and so many typos littered throughout the book. His selfpitying wife is a terrifying example of the functionless southern lady. Every book on your english syllabus summed up in a quote from the office.
Compsons fatal alcoholism, benjys idiocy, jasons cynicism and sterility, caddys and her daughters promiscuity, and quen. This is the first reference to the familys unluckiness in the novel. The compson family, benji a man of innocence has kin of ignorance and selfcenteredness, they will have terrible awakenings in this story this family tragedy of an american household, the fall of the compsons during the era of the 19101930s. The sound and the fury cliffsnotes study guides book. Divided into four sections, the history is narrated by three compson brothers benjamin, quentin, and jason followed by a section by an omniscient narrator. As with most modernist works of literature, the sound and the fury, a highly complex, experimental novel. The sound and the fury is a dramatic presentation of the decline of the oncearistocratic compson family of yoknapatawpha county, in northern mississippi. By using our site you consent to our use of cookies. Compsons fatal alcoholism, benjys idiocy, jasons cynicism. I had learned a little about writing from soldiers payhow to approach language, words. Perhaps thats why he cant stand his brotherinlaw, maury.
The three compson sons, benjy, quentin, and jason compson, and the familys black servant. Compson maintains that life is essentially useless and that there are no values in life outside those of personal pleasure and acting the role of a gentleman. Compson who sells the last of the property, except that fragment containing the house and the. Benjys section sets the tone for the rest of the book. Published in 1929, the sound and the fury was faulkners fourth novel, and was not immediately successful. Compson becomes a sort of symbol of the compson house.
This is mainly because faulkners original book, the sound and the fury, is equally difficult. Integral to its structure is the depiction of four distinct ethical points of view. Learn more about the comptons, a family whose wounds time could not heal. Faulkners inclusion of the appendix in the text of the sound and the fury. It employs several narrative styles, including stream of consciousness. Jason compson iii, the father of the family, a cynical, philosophical man who spends all day drinking whiskey and reading greek and roman literature instead of caring for his children or working.
The sound and the fury 1929 is one of william faulkners most famous novels, and considered by many to be his magnum opus. Test your knowledge take the analysis of major characters quick quiz. In all four sections of the novel, however, time is an important theme that faulkner develops. The central characters of the four sections each cope with. The film was released in a limited release and through video on demand on october 23, 2015, by new films international. Compson character analysis in the sound and the fury. Mississippi and tells the story of the compson family from four different narrative perspectives. Because its by william faulkner, it is both mildly incomprehensible and heartwrenchingly tragic once you manage to figure out whats going on. Here, roskus gives his opinion on the state of the compson family. The field only reveals to man his own folly and despair, and victory is an illusion of philosophers and fools. Compson is the father of quentin, caddy, jason iv, and benjy, and the. He commits suicide by drowning himself just before the end of his first year at harvard. Compson the oldest of the compson children and the narrator of the novels second. It employs a number of narrative styles, including stream of consciousness.
It is the second film version of the novel of the same name by william faulkner. The sound and the fury, william faulkner the sound and the fury is a novel written by the american author william faulkner. The sound and the fury character analysis litcharts. This novel was published in a turbulent time when america was going through some. Faulkners fourth novel, the sound and the fury is notable for its nonlinear plot structure and its unconventional. The the sound and the fury characters covered include. The sound and the fury is a novel by the american author william faulkner. The sound and the fury focuses primarily on the sound and fury of the compson family, who represent the decadent aristocratic order of the old south. The sound and the fury vintage international kindle edition by faulkner, william. In the sound and the fury, the fated compson family is a portrayal of both the declining old south and the new south that rose demonically out of its ruins.
I85 of the printed book juxtaposed with the picnic in the present action and the fight with blandames. Faulkner succeeds in making the sound and the fury notorious with ill fated, hopeless, and irredeemable characters as well as its complex structure and intricate time arrangement. This is the nature of the beast with faulkner, and as i get older i start to wonder if he ever meant these stories to make sense. Compson, a failed alcoholic lawyer, and his four children. He is an alcoholic and fails in his duty as a parent. Compson and applies to his family and to the first three sections of. Quentin compson the oldest of the compson children and the narrator of the novels second chapter. The sound and the fury, however, is a novel even more resistant to filming. Based on the novel by nobel prizewinning author william faulkner considered among the 20th centurys greatest works the sound and the fury encapsulates the universal themes of social injustice, forbidden love and the death of honor. A psychological view of benjys mental retardation benjamin compson, a character from the sound and the fury, is the youngest child of jason and caroline compson who has round the clock supervision. The most obvious one is the representation of the compson mansion. I always knew it would be a difficult book, and have heard that this is primarily due to the stream of consciousness writing style that faulkner uses.
Faulkners fourth novel, the sound and the fury, is probably the most widely. The sound and the fury project gutenberg selfpublishing. The sound and the fury is the story of the compson familys decline and fall. Take a study break every book on your english syllabus summed up in a quote from the office. Start discussing the sound and the fury use these thoughtprovoking questions to facilitate your own reading and to hear what others have to say about the book.
The previous adaptation, directed by martin ritt, was released in 1959. Compson appears in only a few scenes, but his presence is felt by most of the characters. The novel is definitely a moral book, and ultimately a sort of religious book, griffin contends. This summary of the sound and the fury includes a complete plot overview spoilers included. Themes of the sound and the fury novel summaries analysis. Compson character analysis in the sound and the fury litcharts. Throughout the section, as revised in the carbon typescript and the published book, quenins mind runs on his father almost as much as it does on caddy. The sound and the fury is a moral book, comments robert j. The sound and the fury is the story of the fall of the compson family, a bourgeois jackson, mississippi family in the early 1900s. Compson, their four children quentin, caddy, jason and benjy.
Through the compsons, faulkner personifies at once the mournful selfpity of a fallen gentry, and in jason, the embittered rage and resentment of those who come after the fall. He subscribes to a philosophy of determinism and fatalismhe believes life is essentially meaningless and that he can do little to change the events that befall his family. Compson character timeline in the sound and the fury the timeline below shows where the character mr. The sound and the fury 1990 read online free book by.
It employs a number of narrative styles, including the technique known as stream of consciousness, pioneered by 20thcentury european novelists such as james joyce and virginia woolf. Compson is a wellspoken but very cynical and detached man. Their children depict different degrees of degeneracy. Compson maintains notions of gentlemanliness and family honor, which quentin inherits. He turns to his father for help and counsel, but the pragmatic mr.
1357 803 761 1475 689 1061 824 202 1308 1482 283 483 780 53 510 521 1337 1056 539 346 604 620 267 890 98 819 1470 351 64 199 904 484 200 1217 1023 1398 1124 321