I purchased William Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury on a whim. I was in a used bookstore and saw it on the shelf while looking for an F. Scott Fitzgerald book. At the time, I was attempting to appear literary to my friends. I was always an insatiable reader. Back then, I was looking to appear smarter than I was because I liked the attention that was provided. Faulkner was an author that only smart people read, it seemed. So I grabbed the book, paid about $3 total, and took my trip to Jefferson for the first time.
Most people my age found things like reading and discovering new insights and facts about the world to be extremely daunting. I remember talking about books I was reading or wanted to read and being met with blank stares. Don't get me wrong, I had plenty of educated friends who would talk with me for hours about literature, whether it be deep philosophical reads or paperback trash that had action and suspense. However, the conversations that I had when it came to older men and women who I worked with felt different when I brought up literary classics.
There's not one thing that could be pointed to that would reveal why this was the case. I think it partially came from the shift of the nihilistic and passive 90s. What was the point of reading old books that had to be dissected for you to get the real meaning behind the prose?
Reading the book was challenging for me at the time. I think this also speaks to the type of education that I received in Arizona during my high school years concerning literature because I can't remember reading one single piece of fiction from Faulkner. I can attribute it to my love of Kurt Vonnegut, because I did read Harrison Bergeron in a textbook my freshman year, and I can also say that I found Romeo and Juliet gripping and fascinating. But when it came to getting students to understand the deep meaning and love that comes from digesting an amazing novel or short story, my teachers and school missed the mark completely. I went into reading The Sound and the Fury completely in the dark as to what I could expect from the novel. I had no idea that Benjy would have mental deficiencies that would make the first part hard to understand. I had no idea that it was such a celebrated novel. It all felt confusing and intimidating.Â
It wasn't until years later after anxiety and depression had forced me to give up on schooling, that I was finally able to read the book and appreciate how wonderful of a tale it was. I was dating Cisco's mother Marissa, and I had found it at the library after losing the copy that I purchased years before during a move. I would wait until she would go to sleep, then I would smoke copious amounts of pot and sit in her recliner while taking it in. I think what drew me in the most was how hurt everyone in the book was. That was how I felt during that moment in my life. I wasn't speaking to anyone in my family. The only correspondence I would receive from my mother at that time was that I needed to "come back home" and make amends with my abusive brother. I felt like it was holding up appearances for everyone to feel better, but it wouldn't fix the core issues that we all had brewing inside of us.Â
The Compson family was similar to the Lujan clan. They dealt with pain and loss in ways that only made sense to them in the moment. Jason's reaction was anger, Benjy's was confusion, Quentin's was sorrow, and Caddy's was fear. They all do their best to flee their circumstances, but none of them have the tools to do so. Each of them holds onto the past. Their inability to live in the present and forgive those who have wronged them plays into all of their downfalls.
One can look at the fourth part of the novel, the section that takes place on Easter, to see how different things could be for the Compsons. Dilsey, the family's servant, lives a life filled without judgment and strife. She loves the Compsons, even after they have mistreated and abused her. She loves Benjy and does her best to look past his issues, which no one else in the novel does. Dilsey doesn't do any of this to gain favor or to improve her station in life, which the Compsons are obsessed with. She does it because it's the right thing to do, and because Jesus said to do so.Â
The climax of the novel, where Jason grabs the reins of the carriage and quiets Benjy down after he becomes upset by striking him, also resonated with me. We all have our cycles and patterns that feel comfortable and welcoming. But when those cycles are made of pain and vitriol, they still come across as comforting. Luster deviates from the common path that would have kept Benjy calm and pacified. Jason appears and hits Luster and Benjy while rerouting the horse and carriage, and afterward, rather than Benjy being upset about the interaction, he finds solace in the familiarity.Â
Disley endures because she chooses to love those who have wronged her, while Jason can't. Jason also chooses to wrong anyone he can to get ahead in life. The two different paths paint a different picture for each family.Â
I've read other William Faulkner novels but they didn't resonate with me like The Sound and the Fury. Don't get me wrong, his other novels are great. I feel an intimacy with the book because of the story it tells and the message that it intends to send. Maybe reading it annually on Easter weekend will be a new tradition?