communication breakdown

Book Review: The Sound and the Fury (1929)

[ 8 / 10 ] "The Sound and the Fury" is William Faulkner's most critically acclaimed, and arguably his best, novel. Set in the fictional and elaborately detailed Yoknapatawpha County of Mississippi, it is perhaps one of the most accurate and impassioned portrayals of the 1920's South...

The title of the novel comes from a line in Shakespeare's Macbeth:

Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.

A more appropriate title may have never been chosen; in many ways these few words summarize the themes underlying Faulkner's complex and emotional work. Despite his love for the South, Faulkner seems most comfortable using pain as his vehicle of expressing it, seen most clearly in "The Sound and the Fury" and "As I Lay Dying", each of which tells a harrowing tale of a dysfunctional Southern family and the misfortunes that ultimately destroy them.

The novel is not an easy read, and it's probably worth mentioning its difficulties here at the beginning as a series of disclaimers. In what was to become typical Faulkner style, the story is often presented in a stream-of-consciousness format, from the vantage point of several different narrators. These speakers also vary in their levels of coherence and dependability, ranging from a middle-age retarded man to an anonymous, third-party voice. The early parts of the novel are especially difficult to follow, as the speakers' fractured states of mind lead them to jump around in time, often without warning or context. Complicating matters is the fact that each narrator tells their part in full, meaning the story is only broken up into 4 pieces - which makes a long-term reading more difficult, as there are very few "chapter" breaks. As if this weren't enough, first-time readers will likely trip over names in the early stages, as several characters share the same name, and it might take a good portion of the book before the reader has them straightened out (especially since clarity and reason don't reign too supremely in the early portions). Finally, given Faulkner's commitment to portraying a realistic portrait of the early-1900's Deep South, expect to find textual representations of thick Southern accents, and plenty of words which would not be considered appropriate in public speech today.

Despite all of this, "The Sound and the Fury" is a worthwhile read, ultimately grand in scope and heartbreaking in its delivery. It tells the story of the Compsons, a family who, despite their long and proud history, will meet their demise as a result of the events and bad decisions related in the book. It is a family which seems destined for failure; indeed, the matriarch Caroline is convinced the family is cursed. And she may be right: each family member has a catstrophic flaw which leads to their unraveling. Caroline is an ineffectionate hypochondriac prone to worrying and superstition. Her husband Jason is an alcoholic. Their daughter Caddy is promiscuous. And their three sons are all obsessed with Caddy, albeit in different (but equally destructive) ways.

And this is really the center of the book - Caddy's fall and its effect on her three brothers. Caddy's early loss of her virginity, and subsequent pregnancy to an unknown father, leads to an early divorce and banishment from her own family. This series of events takes its toll on each brother, in subsequent sections of the novel.

The first narration belongs to Benjy, Caddy's younger retarded brother. He feels a maternal love for her that borders on obsession and intense anxiety. He feels safety in her innocence and maternal protection, and when her sexual experimentation leads to her distance and eventual removal from the Compson house, Benjy cannot cope. Benjy's section is by far the most difficult to follow, and will likely require extreme patience from first-time readers. He jumps wildly through time, focusing on a handful of events, ranging from his early childhood, to the present-day of the novel, when he is in his thirties. Regardless of the time, the majority of his memories center around Caddy and his inability to understand her loss.

The second section is Quentin's, the oldest Compson child. His feelings for Caddy are romantic in nature, but not sexual; he is not in love with her body, and he does not seek an incestual relationship. Indeed, quite the opposite; we see that he is repulsed by the idea of sex. On the contrary, he is in love with an idealistic representation of Caddy - her innocence and virginity wrapped up in a protective obsession for her which he harbors throughout his life. He is emotionally unable to deal with the shattering of this image once she engages in sex and ultimately marries, and as such, he commits suicide. His section, while easier to read than Benjy's, is still difficult as his state of mind is warped with despair. He focuses on fewer memories than Benjy, but each memory is more vivid and agonizingly reconstructed in his head. He also has a relatively coherent present-day thread, as he takes us through the last day of his life.

Jason, the final Compson child, is considered to be "the only sane Compson", but a close look at his section reveals that he is just as disturbed as his siblings. While he is perhaps more mentally stable than the others, he is consumed with anger and spite for his sister, who he holds responsible for the loss of his only real chance at a good job (working for her husband, who divorces Caddy from shame and denies Jason employment). The truth is that Jason likely would have never got the job anyway (not having any professional experience), but that does not stop him from hating her for the rest of his life. He inherits the stubbornness and emotional insensitivity of his mother and takes it out on anyone he can. While his section is an easy read, it is laced with vitriol. Every page is dripping with disgust for everyone: Caddy, her illegitimate daughter, his negro slaves, his co-workers, and anyone else who gets in his way. His anger at his sister leads him to irrational bouts of revenge against her daughter, which result in a series of bad decisions that end up ruining his life (and the rest of the family in the process). As the only living male Compson able to marry and have kids, his refusal to wed marks the end of the Compson family.

As is probably very evident from the above synopsis, this is a depressing tale of obsession and loss. There are no winners in this story. There are very few sympathetic characters; in fact, you could make an argument that Dilsey, the Compson's head slave, is the focus of the book, rather than the Compson's themselves. After all, she is the only kindhearted and levelheaded character in the book. Surrounded by turmoil, she nevertheless endures:

"I've seed de first en de last ... I seed de beginnin, en now I sees de endin."

Indeed, Dilsey is the sole witness to the entire Compson line. It is a sad tale, but an ultimately powerful and rewarding one. The depth of emotion and imagery portrayed throughout the novel is astounding. Faulkner's stream-of-consciousness technique is masterful, and his ability to capture the Deep South so eloquently in written word might as well serve as history rather than fiction. You can feel Faulkner's love for the South on every page. And despite the numerous literary hurdles which might make it an intimidating read, you're likely to love this story.