The Sound and the Fury
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In his novel The Sound and the Fury, William Faulkner depicts the tragic downfall of a Southern family, the Compsons, as the family's three brothers all suffer from a preoccupation with their sister Caddy. Perhaps no one is affected more by this obsession than eldest son Quentin, who is consumed by his incestuous love for Caddy. Indeed, the reality of Caddy's behavior, along with the disintegration of the rest of his family, devastates Quentin, as he harbors idealized notions of morality and purity, particularly as it pertains to his sister. The fact that Caddy and his father do not adhere to the strict code of ethics that he cherishes causes Quentin much anguish, ultimately compelling him to commit suicide. As the eldest Compson son, Quentin feels a great deal of pressure to live up to the family name and its prestige in the community. At the same time, he is further burdened by his passionate obsession with his sister Caddy. His feelings for her are complicated by the rather strict code of conduct that he adheres to, which seems to be the embodiment of traditional Southern values. Indeed, "Quentin sees the chivalric ideal as the codification of those virtuous qualities of bravery, of loyalty to the concepts of courtesy and generosity, especially as those qualities are directed toward devoted service to women and defense of their honor" (Levins 128). Thus, Quentin feels an even greater responsibility to look after Caddy, and guard against the loss of her purity.
. . .
d he said, That's why that's sad too; nothing is even worth the changing of itā (Faulkner 78).
Quentin's fierce dedication to the chivalric code paralyzes him in another way as well. He is unable to be a man of action because "the abstract chivalric code becomes more important to him than the reality of daily living; the chivalric pattern comes to mean more than the living individuals whose conduct that ideal should inspire" (Levins 129). Thus, Quentin is more concerned with abstract ideals than the cold, hard reality of action. When Caddy becomes pregnant with Dalton Ames' child, Quentin does not confront Ames or take any decisive action. Instead, he fantasizes about what he would do: "If I could have been his mother lying with open body lifted laughing, holding his father with my hand refraining, seeing, watching him die before he lived" (Faulkner 80). When he attempts to fight Ames over his sister's honor, Quentin recalls that he "had just passed out like a girl" without Ames landing a single punch (Faulkner 162). He is unable to follow through with his desire to act.
Indeed, even his desperate love for Caddy lacks real action; Quentin lies to his father that he and Caddy have engaged in incest when it is
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Approximate Word count = 1256
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page)
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