Tag Archives: Benjy

Analysis of Benjy’s Narration

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Benjy, a thirty three year old man with the mental state of a three year old, does not have the ability to formulate his own thoughts or understand the significance of what he experiences. His life is dictated by scents, sounds, shapes, and cues from the present that leads a chain of displaced memories; all of which may present Benjy’s inability to discern the past and the present. Though Benjy may seem as an unreliable narrator due to his mental disability, in fact, from his mental disability it becomes clear the constant disarray of memory shifts is targeted by his sensitivity and awareness to the present. He does not have the ability to understand what he sees, which presents only a reliable and unbiased view of his family. The irony presented in his narration is his family views Benjy’s disability as the downfall of their family, on the other hand, the downfall of the family is sought upon their own incompetency.

Though his memories are discontinued and leaves much of his memories unclear, each memory brings misfortune upon the family. From the scene with Benjy’s mother wearing a veil carrying flowers into a carriage (9-10) emphasizing death, to Caddy’s threats of running away (19) signs of the family breaking apart, early signs of promiscuity from Caddy’s comfort of undressing in front of her brothers by the lake,  Caddy and Jason’s fight over the drawings (65), and to the mother’s illness all indicate signs of drastic change and the overall downfall of the family(74). Throughout each timeframe a new dilemma occurs amongst family members in which Benji seem’s to be at the fore point and cries as he witnesses the separation amongst each family member.

April 7, 1928 does not have much significance except it gives us a disarray of memories. From Benjy’s narration, Faulkner does not give us much insight into Quentin, Jason, and his father but it is clear how Caddy, Benjy’s mother, Roskus, and Dilsey affects Benjy’s life. Caddy and Dilsey act his true caretakers/mother while Benjy’s mother, Mrs. Compson, believes her son is deteriorating her family’s reputation and slowly isolating the family from other people (8).

The most significant character presented in Benjy’s narration is Caddy. Many if not all of Benjy’s memories have Caddy present, conscious of her physical appearance. Her undergarment as dirty,  his sister removing her clothes(18,74), Caddy and Charlie by the swings (47), and when he sleeps with her he notices she does not take her bathrobe off (44). Those all indicate physical awareness and perhaps physical attraction towards Caddy. The end of the chapter may indicate his mother dying from her illness and Caddy’s innocence taken from her as she develops into a women and into more of a motherly role. Perhaps Caddy’s promiscuity is the catalyst for her family’s destruction.

Impressions in (On, From, Around, Beneath, etc.) TSAF

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Matthew Adler

Professor Allred

Response 1

3 September 2013

Body, perspective, and the everlasting human desire to convey its limits is found in the”Benjy” section of Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury. Written through an impressionistic, and therefore seemingly unreliable pen, Faulkner throws his reader into a storm of poetic and simple observation to convey the limits of individual perspective. Not only is Benjy’s family limited by their own perception, but so is Benjy and the careful reader. Faulkner shows us that objectivity is born from subjectivity. The reader is given Benjy’s eyes, skin, and more importantly the thought process of his environment. But even after all the proper tools are given to the reader, we still impose our own subjective experience on Benjy’s. Faulkner conveys that subjectivity is unreliable. He therefore attempts to objectively define the limits of human experience–subjectivity.

The individuals that speak of and to Benjy are tilted with a subjective bias. Likewise, Benjy’s perception of his environment is achieved through his own keen, and at some points seemingly innacurrate observations. For example, Benjy idyllically conveys his own perspective: “Steam came off Roskus. He was sitting in front of the stove. The oven door was open and Roskus had his feet in it. Steam came off the bowl. Caddy put the spoon into my mouth easy. There was a black spot on the inside of the bowl”(70). Simple nouns and adjectives combined with simple syntax shows Faulkner’s intention to underline subjectivity and individual perspective as the pervading theme in daily life. The ornate first sentence of the passage precedes a plain statement to highlight observation as a construct from an individual’s own impression on his surroundings. Steam does not form off an individual, rather, it comes off the hot food that sits in a serving bowl. But the reader understands what Benjy means, and therefore can relate more easily to Faulkner’s intention. Imagery of Roskus’ feet in the oven further demonstrates Faulkner’s ability to place the reader in Benjy’s shoes. Also, the adjective “easy” allows the reader to impose his own subjective experience with Benjy’s. “Easy” has many potential meanings. Such stretched and condensed observations of Benjy furthers Faulkner’s argument– subjectivity is both a hindrance and at times, a help in understanding an individual’s existence.

Benjy’s impressions convey his own persona as a perceptive individual, even though those around him think of him as slow and mute. The last sentence of the passage is a plain observation, but also an astute one. To the ignorant observer, a black dot on the inside of a bowl would be a negligible. But Benjy is an astute observer. More importantly, to the casual reader, such a sentence would be overlooked as well. But, for the critical reader, a character who muses over a trifling (important) image shows that there is depth and value in his judgement and therefore, the character’s existence. Faulkner uses the subtle observations from Benjy’s perspective to underline both the limits and liberties of individual impressions on the environment.