In the first chapter of The Sound and the Fury by Faulkner, we can see the lack of love demonstration towards Benjy by the majority of the characters, except Caddy. She is the only one who shows her love and dedication to Benjy. This love is reciprocal because Benjy also likes to be near Caddy and feels well and safe when she is around and this is why he starts to remember him when he is up the fence with Luster. For example, throughout chapter one, Benjy is constantly describing how Caddy smells, “Caddy smells like trees . . .” (Faulkner, 6). This shows us that he enjoys her company because she reminds him of things that he likes such as trees, leaves. She represents a person that is important to him and therefore, he does not want her to leave his side as it shows when she goes away and he starts crying until she comes back to him. It is like a dependence that he has on Caddy because she is the person with whom he feels protected and happy. We can see as she holds his hands to go out of the house and she is always trying to understand what he is needing to say. 

Furthermore, Caddy lets Benjy know that he can always count on her, “Caddy knelt and put her arms around me and her cold bright face against mine. She smelled like trees. “You’re not a poor baby. Are you. Are you. You’ve got your Caddy. Haven’t you got your Caddy”” (Faulkner, 9). What Caddy says to Benjy in these lines is in response to how his mother referred to him before they left the house. She called him “poor baby” and Caddy affirms that he is not a poor baby, but it is so interesting because it is like she is saying that he is not a poor baby because he has got her. Thus, she also thinks that Benjy has a dependence on her and that she must always be there to take care of him. 

Nonetheless, there are characters that are the opposite of Caddy regarding her affection for Benjy. Benjy is remembering Caddy when she came home the day before Christmas. His mother seems to overprotect him in order for Benjy to not get sick when Caddy wants to take him outside. Readers might think that she is actually caring for his health, but if we deeply think, all she cares about is her Christmas party. This reflects when she says, “”Are you going to take that baby out without his overshoes.” Mother said. “Do you want to make him sick, with the house full of company”” (Faulkner, 8). Benjy getting sick on this day means that he will “ruin” the party for her because she will have to take care of him and therefore, the party will have to be canceled. These lines do not exemplify a mother’s concern about her child, but a woman who worries more about her son “ruining” her party than her actual son. 

Benjy lives with a dysfunctional family formed by two parents that do not properly take care of their children. Carolyn Porter states, “Faulkner ‘‘works up to’’ this moment, exploring the failure of the Compson parents to provide the love and care they should, and thereby leaving Dilsey and Caddy with the responsibilities of both fathering and mothering” (Porter, 47). Caddy is Benjy’s sister, but has to play the role of a mother because the special attention that Benjy requires is not provided by his actual mother. Hence, this is what leads Benjy to have this great love for Caddy because she is the only one who worries about him and dedicates her time to make him happy when he was a child. 

As we know, Benjy cannot talk, therefore, when he tries to communicate or he is feeling uncomfortable, he moans. This is something that annoys Luster because he does not understand what Benjy is trying to say. As it states, “Cant you shut up that moaning and slobbering, Luster said. Aint you shamed of yourself, making all this racket” (Faulkner, 9). In the present time of this success, Benjy must be moaning because he remembering Caddy and the moments that he used to have with her. However, Luster does not know this; he does not understand Benjy and he does not try to communicate with him and know what is happening to him. Instead, Luster insults him, not knowing that it is not Benjy’s fault to not speak up.