In reading The Sound and the Fury thus far, the only thing that I am sure of is that it is a very confusing book. Either William Faulkner was an absolute genius or absolutely insane. It’s not to say that I haven’t been enjoying the book. I especially look forward to those “ah-ha!” moments when something in the story begins to make sense. Faulkner is especially astute at revealing the actions, thoughts, and feelings of his characters, beyond those of the narrator, through the consciousnesses of Benjy and Quentin.
In the first part of the novel, Faulkner divulges Caddy’s fate through Benjy’s memories. From early on in the novel, we can tell that Caddy, a character who is central to Benjy’s earlier memories, has disappeared at some point during Benjy’s adolescence. She is no longer present in the current action, but is referenced on several occasions, though not right out. The novel itself opens with Benjy staring through the “curling flower spaces” out on to a golf course (1). We later discover that the fence is where he used to stand to wait for Caddy to come home from school. For example, in one of Benjy’s earlier memories, Benjy is standing, holding on to the “ahun” (iron) gate, watching for Caddy. When she finally arrives, she says, “Did you come to meet me….Did you come to meet Caddy” (6). We are first able to determine that Caddy has disappeared from Benjy’s life, and that he is upset by it, when the golfers’ calling their “caddies” causes Benjy to cry and moan. We later discover that Caddy did not leave on good terms with the family because, as Roskus points out, “they aint no luck going be on no place where one of they own chillen's name aint never spoke” (?). Because of his lowered mental state, Benjy does not completely understand Caddy’s disappearance and fate; however, we are able to deduce what has happened to Caddy through the clues in Benjy’s memories. Faulkner’s genius lies in his ability to reveal details slowly.
Perhaps the defining scene is Quentin’s section is when he and Caddy are sitting at the branch. This scene is chock-full of sexual innuendoes reflecting Quentin’s association of sex with death, as sex has destroyed his sister’s and his lives by forcing her to marry. However, this part of the novel is as revealing of Caddy as it is of Quentin. It is in this scene when we learn of Caddy’s true feelings towards the man to whom she has lost her virginity. She says she does not love him; however, her heart begins to pound when she speaks of him. She repeatedly says, “Poor Quentin,” revealing the pity she feels toward her brother that stems from the fact that she does not love him as he loves her. Additionally, when Quentin proposes that they commit suicide, Caddy agrees, but will not aid in her own killing. She clearly wants Quentin to be the one to make the decision over her life, revealing the sense of futility that Caddy feels. This sentiment is also demonstrated when she says that she wants to become sick.
In both Benjy’s and Quentin’s sections of the novel, Faulkner reveals other characters’ actions, thoughts and feelings, especially those of Caddy, through the consciousnesses of Benjy and Quentin. (544 words)
And now, I’ve decided to write limericks about some of the characters in the novel:
There once was a boy named Benjy
His caretakers’ numbers were many
A three year old mind
But thirty-three to our eyes
He waited for his sister endlessly.
There once was a girl named Caddy,
Benjy certainly needed her badly
Against the Compson name
She played a promiscuous game
Now her daughter has no mommy or daddy
There once was a boy named Quentin
Smart and proper, not to mention,
Was in love with his sis
Now he’s in a fix
From the Charles he sent himself to heaven.
The once was a mother named Caroline
She worried her son was never fine
Attention-seeking and nagging
Her spirits were sagging
When husband and son went off and died.
There once were three servant men
There job never seemed to end
To watch over a man,
Whose speech they couldn’t understand,
Versh, T.J. and Luster must tend.
Friday, October 26, 2007
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
A Picture of Henry Wotton
As of right now, my favorite character in The Picture of Dorian Gray is Lord Henry Wotton. His sarcastic comments regarding artists, poets, philanthropists, Americans, the British, the aristocracy, and pretty much every other group imaginable lend humor to the novel and give the reader insight into the satirical, although generally accurate, lens through which Lord Henry views the world. His witty and charismatic exterior allows him to manipulate Dorian Gray and shapes much of Dorian’s perceptions.
When we are first introduced to Dorian by Basil’s description, “he has a simple and beautiful nature.” Basil warns Lord Henry, “Don’t spoil him. Don’t try to influence him. Your influence would be bad” (16). It is as thought Basil can see the corrupting power Lord Henry will soon possess over Dorian. Lord Henry himself is aware of the control he will be able to have over Dorian: “to influence a person is to give him one’s own soul. He does not think his natural thoughts, or burn with his natural passions….He becomes an echo of someone else’s music, an actor of a part that has not been written for him” (20). It is at Lord Henry’s suggestion that Dorian begins to obsess over preserving his youth when Lord Henry says, “youth is the one thing worth having,” and that “Beauty is a form of Genius—is higher, indeed, than Genius, as it needs no explanation” (24). Lord Henry plants in Dorian’s head the idea of his beauty as being wasted by time.
Lord Henry’s power over Dorian stems from his intellectual magnetism and appearance. His voice alone (which is “low” and musical”) is enough to get inside Dorian’s head, and his mannerisms when speaking (a “graceful wave of the hand”) likewise exude a sense of confidence (21). Dorian is also very fond of and interested in Lord Henry’s appearance: in his “romantic olive-coloured face and worn expression…[and] his cool, white flower-like hands” (23).
Henry’s sharp wit and clear intelligence additionally hypnotize Dorian. He is able to speak words that have a “subtle magic” (22) in them, that “bewilder” Dorian, and touch “some secret chord that had never been touched before (21). Lord Henry’s intelligence can be seen in his subtle mockery of the human race. He makes fun of intellectuals in saying that “beauty, real beauty, ends where intellectual expression begins….Look at the successful men in any of the learned professions. How Perfectly hideous they are!” (6-7). He then goes on to satirize the church: “in the Church they don’t think. A bishop keeps on saying at the age of eighty what he was told to say when he was a boy of eighteen…” (7). He even goes so far as to ridicule philanthropists, saying “philanthropic people lost all sense of humanity. It is their distinguishing characteristic” (37). Even though his criticisms seem harsh, many, in fact, contain some truth. For example, the “philanthropists” with whom Lord Henry is acquainted often give for the wrong reasons, hoping to keep up appearances rather than aid others for purely benevolent motives.
Lord Henry Wotton is extremely perceptive and uses his intellectual prowess to control those around him. As he is so astute at getting inside Dorian’s head, he is able to greatly influence Dorian’s thoughts and actions. I would predict that his original broaching of the idea of the transient nature of beauty is what eventually leads Dorian to obsess over his youth and the painting. (574)
When we are first introduced to Dorian by Basil’s description, “he has a simple and beautiful nature.” Basil warns Lord Henry, “Don’t spoil him. Don’t try to influence him. Your influence would be bad” (16). It is as thought Basil can see the corrupting power Lord Henry will soon possess over Dorian. Lord Henry himself is aware of the control he will be able to have over Dorian: “to influence a person is to give him one’s own soul. He does not think his natural thoughts, or burn with his natural passions….He becomes an echo of someone else’s music, an actor of a part that has not been written for him” (20). It is at Lord Henry’s suggestion that Dorian begins to obsess over preserving his youth when Lord Henry says, “youth is the one thing worth having,” and that “Beauty is a form of Genius—is higher, indeed, than Genius, as it needs no explanation” (24). Lord Henry plants in Dorian’s head the idea of his beauty as being wasted by time.
Lord Henry’s power over Dorian stems from his intellectual magnetism and appearance. His voice alone (which is “low” and musical”) is enough to get inside Dorian’s head, and his mannerisms when speaking (a “graceful wave of the hand”) likewise exude a sense of confidence (21). Dorian is also very fond of and interested in Lord Henry’s appearance: in his “romantic olive-coloured face and worn expression…[and] his cool, white flower-like hands” (23).
Henry’s sharp wit and clear intelligence additionally hypnotize Dorian. He is able to speak words that have a “subtle magic” (22) in them, that “bewilder” Dorian, and touch “some secret chord that had never been touched before (21). Lord Henry’s intelligence can be seen in his subtle mockery of the human race. He makes fun of intellectuals in saying that “beauty, real beauty, ends where intellectual expression begins….Look at the successful men in any of the learned professions. How Perfectly hideous they are!” (6-7). He then goes on to satirize the church: “in the Church they don’t think. A bishop keeps on saying at the age of eighty what he was told to say when he was a boy of eighteen…” (7). He even goes so far as to ridicule philanthropists, saying “philanthropic people lost all sense of humanity. It is their distinguishing characteristic” (37). Even though his criticisms seem harsh, many, in fact, contain some truth. For example, the “philanthropists” with whom Lord Henry is acquainted often give for the wrong reasons, hoping to keep up appearances rather than aid others for purely benevolent motives.
Lord Henry Wotton is extremely perceptive and uses his intellectual prowess to control those around him. As he is so astute at getting inside Dorian’s head, he is able to greatly influence Dorian’s thoughts and actions. I would predict that his original broaching of the idea of the transient nature of beauty is what eventually leads Dorian to obsess over his youth and the painting. (574)
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