Sound and the Fury Essay: Main Theme
SOUND AND THE FURY ESSAY
Time plays a major role in our society and the ability to differentiate between past and present is crucial. This skill has become crucial to survive; one must learn to put the past to rest and progress into the future. We must not dwell on the past, as that restricts what we can do in the future. We must utilize what we have learned in the past and use it in the future. This is evident to the survival of the members in the Compson Family. From the four perspectives we are able to read in the novel, The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner, only Dilsey Gibson survives and endures the change that occurs in the South about the 1920’s.
The 1920’s remained a time of movements and innovations that helped shaped the modern world in the United States. In the time after World War I many citizens warily approached the new era. Some of the modernizations of the time included talking movies, refrigerators, automobiles, women in politics, and the blossoming of black communities (Harlem). This rush towards the future required the American people to change while leaving the old ways of the past While many were able to adapt to the new age, some refused. The future did not wait for them, they were left to fend for themselves in an antiquated world. As with throughout history, the dawn of a new age must include the sacrifice of people who refuse change. Progression can be seen as a give and take relationship for there must be a loss with any gain.
In 1895, Benjy Compson is born. Soon, his parents find out that he is mentally retarded. Benjy cannot differentiate from the past from the present thus time has no affect on him. Benjy’s mind cannot comprehend the meaning of start and finish. This is the why Faulkner writes the section in a ‘stream of consciousness.’ As Benjy is thinking about one subject, he unknowingly changes to a different subject because he is mentally unable to separate time.
Unlike Benjy, Quentin Compson does have the mental capacity to differentiate the past from the present. Unfortunately, Quentin fails to do so because he is obsessed with his problems and memories from the past. Quentin’s mind is constantly interrupted by how Caddy is not a virgin anymore and how much he wants them to be...