Generational Dualities in William Faulkner's Novel "The Sound and the Fury"

The Inescapable Cycles

In this essay I will explore generational dualities in William Faulkner’s novel The Sound and the Fury and will argue that they work to highlight the decay of the Compson family and to underline its hopelessness and lack of future. The three dualities I will consider are those of Caddy and her daughter, who, in order to avoid confusion, I will refer to as Miss Quentin, Miss Quentin and Quentin, and Benjamin and uncle Maury. I will explore the similarities within each pair and will argue that, since those similarities are shared between people in consecutive generations, the similarities contribute to the circular and repetitive nature of the Compson family, consequently highlighting its decay and hopelessness. As well, I will contextualize the family within the South and will conclude that its inevitable decay symbolizes the irreversible end of Southern prosperity.

The first duality I will consider is that of Caddy and her daughter Miss Quentin. There are many similarities between the two women, with their analogous promiscuity standing out above others. The promiscuity of both women is highlighted in several ways. Luster refers to it in Miss Quentin’s case by recalling her sneaking out of the house at night, with the implication that she is doing this to see boys. “‘Me and Benjy seed her clamb out de window last night. … We sees her doin hit ev’y night,’ Luster said. ‘Clamb down dat pear tree’” (Faulkner, 286), he says. The observation highlights the frequency with which Miss Quentin sneaks out to see boys, which mimics the promiscuity of Caddy. There are many examples of Caddy’s promiscuity in the novel, as it is a somewhat constant trait of hers, but what stands out most to her family is Miss Quentin herself, as she is born out of wedlock, from Caddy’s relationship with Dalton Ames, which is considered unacceptable and leads to Caddy’s banishment from the family. Another parallel drawn between the two girls is that of both of them meeting their male lovers on the same swing, years apart. In Caddy’s case, Benjamin and Luster see her there one night, with Luster cautioning Benjamin by saying “Dont go over there. Miss Quentin and her beau in the swing yonder. You come on this way. Come back here, Benjy.’” (Faulkner, 46). In a similar scene, Benjamin encounters Caddy on the same swing with a lover of hers, and she goes to meet him so as to prevent him from witnessing the occurrence. “It was two now, and then one in the swing. Caddy came fast, white in the darkness. ‘Benjy.’ she said. ‘How did you slip out. Where's Versh.’ She put her arms around me and I hushed and held to her dress and tried to pull her away. ‘Why, Benjy.’ she said. ‘What is it. T.P.’ she called. The one in the swing got up and came, and I cried and pulled Caddy's dress” (Faulkner, 47), Benjamin recounts. The inclusion of such analogous scenes highlights the similarities between Caddy and Miss Quentin and how their promiscuity is perpetuated across two generations. Finally, the last parallel between the promiscuity of Caddy and that of Miss Quentin that I will explore is that of both of their soiled undergarments appearing in the story. On the first occasion, Caddy is the only one of the Compson kids who is brave enough to climb up a tree to find out what they were forbidden from attending - their grandmother’s funeral. As she does so, the underwear that she had before this dirtied in a stream becomes visible to the boys standing below. “He went and pushed Caddy up into the tree to the first limb. We watched the muddy bottom of her drawers” (Faulkner, 39), Benjamin remembers. Soiled undergarments on a young girl can be understood to symbolize tainted innocence, and, in the context of three male family members being able to witness them, they might also be understood to symbolize promiscuity. Soiled undergarments appear once again in the novel, when, in search of the missing Miss Quentin, Jason enters her room and discovers that “On the floor lay a soiled undergarment of cheap silk” (Faulkner, 282). The inclusion of such a specific object, which symbolizes promiscuity, in regards to both Caddy and Miss Quentin solidifies the connection between them.

Miss Quentin likewise shares many similarities with her uncle Quentin, who she was named after. Mrs Compson herself highlights how alike they are by stating that Miss Quentin inherited her uncle’s traits. “‘But she inherited all of the headstrong traits. Quentin’s too. I thought all the time, with the heritage she would already have, to give her that name, too. Sometimes I think she is the judgement of both of them upon me’” (Faulkner, 260-261), she says. This quote not only points out the similarities between the two Quentins, but combines them in a sort of punishment that she experiences, which, in the context of the decay her family experiences, can be understood as a circular perpetuation of this degradation. It becomes obvious that Mrs Compson succumbs to the idea that her family is doomed when, as Miss Quentin is nowhere to be found, she jumps to the conclusion that she committed suicide, just like her uncle did. “‘Find a note … Quentin left a note when he did it’” (Faulkner, 283), she immediately says, and adds “‘I knew the minute they named her Quentin this would happen’”(Faulkner, 283). With that she admits to believing that naming Miss Quentin after her uncle, who committed suicide, Miss Quentin was doomed to an analogous fate. “‘It’s in the blood. Like uncle, like niece. Or mother. I dont know which would be worse. I dont seem to care’” (Faulkner, 299), she later concludes, pointing out once again her belief that what causes suffering in her family’s members is in their blood, that they are all doomed to suffer, and that she has become desensitized to this constant suffering and decay. Miss Quentin thus serves not only as the generational double of Caddy, but also that of Quentin, and demonstrates how the decay of the Compson family is perpetuated throughout its generations.

In this paragraph I will briefly consider the third couple, Benjamin and Uncle Maury, as well as Jason’s views on the family’s hopelessness and lack of a future. Benjamin is initially named Maury, after his uncle, creating another parallel between generations and continuing the trend of couples in the family. He is renamed to Benjamin after his mental impairment is discovered, which might be considered the family’s attempt to break this cycle of perpetuated decay. The reason for the renaming is the shame that the family experiences at having a mentally impaired member, and wishing him not to have the same name as an older member, which would tarnish the family’s reputation. The duality between the two family members undeniably exists, however, and the cycle of decay is still perpetuated. Jason himself points out the decay of the family, and begins questioning his being safe from it. “And there I was, without any hat, looking like I was crazy too. Like a man would naturally think, one of them is crazy, and another one drowned himself and the other one was turned out into the street by her husband, what’s the reason the rest of them are not crazy too” (Faulkner, 232-233), he ponders at one point. He lists the individual decayings of his other family members and seems to conclude that since all the rest are damaged in some way, he must be too. “I expected it all the time the whole family’s crazy” (Faulkner, 233), he adds, which highlights his suspicion that the family’s decay is inevitable and that its future is hopeless. This hopelessness is later highlighted again by his saying “blood is blood and you can’t get around it” (Faulkner, 243), pointing out that there is no escaping decay that is passed down and perpetuated throughout generations. Jason’s ponderings, thus, provide an insight into his belief that the Compson family has lost its past grandeur and is doomed to inevitable decay. Lastly, the inevitability of the family’s deterioration is highlighted in the novel’s concluding sentence. Benjamin has one of his regular distressed periods, but then calms down as “cornice and facade flowed smoothly once more from left to right, post and tree, window and doorway, and signboard each in its ordered place” (Faulkner, 321). The inclusion of one of Benjamin’s cyclical outbursts, which are then followed by a description of all objects being in their place creates a sense of the inability to escape the routine and regular cycles of the family’s surroundings. The ending seems to suggest that there is nowhere for the Compsons to go, and that they are stuck in a cycle of inescapable decay.

In conclusion, the generational dualities of the Compson family highlight its decay and hopelessness. When considered in the context of the novel’s dichotomy of the South and the North, this hopeless decay of the Compson family, who have been in the South for generations and have previously been prosperous and well-respected in it, can be construed as the decay of the once prosperous South itself. Quentin’s migration North to attend Harvard, which he himself refers to as coming East (Faulkner, 86), supposedly to avoid highlighting the dichotomy of the South and the North, and his separation from the South, is a failure in that he ends his life in the North in suicide. This failure to escape the South and adapt to life in the North can thereby be considered the failure of Southern prosperity, and, in the context of the Compson’s family’s hopelessness, which has been established by its generational dualities and Jason’s ponderings, it can be said that the once prosperous South has no future. Thus, the generational dualities of the Compson family symbolize not only the decay and hopelessness of the family itself, but also of traditional Southern prosperity, which decays alongside it. Time in the South marches on, as is echoed by the novel’s recurring symbol of the clock, seemingly portraying “the dry pulse of the decaying house itself” (Faulkner, 285), and the Compson family remains in its ordered place, perpetuating its own deterioration.

Works Cited:

Faulkner, William. The Sound and the Fury. The Easton Press, 2004.