Coping with Difficult Times
Per Ryan B.
Coping with difficult times
From the progress we have made in the book thus far, it seems that each member of the Compson family has a method of coping with the harsh realities of their daily lives. Mr. Compson coped by drinking himself to death. Benjy’s attempt to cope is to find some comfort in somewhat pleasant snapshots of the past. Jason Compson steals Miss Quentin’s child support money and copes by soliciting prostitutes and gambling on the cotton market. Mrs. Compson copes by developing an overwhelming sense of self-pity and detachment. Miss Quentin, along with Caddy, copes by engaging in promiscuous sexual endeavors. Quentin, who seems to have no other way, soothes himself by committing suicide.
Which character seems to do the best job of dealing with the emotional gravity of their situation in life?
7 comments:
I think that Benjy does the best job of coping with the difficult times that the Compson family is experiencing. While he does his fair share of crying and bellowing, I feel that his method of coping involves the least amount of personal harm, both physically and mentally. He is able take himself to a better time without loss of life or sexual encounters that result in pregnancy out of wedlock. Although considered the idiot of the family, I think that he is in some ways the most mature, at least when it comes to coping with the world around him.
How does one define the 'best' way of coping? This question is too ambiguous, as it applies differently to each of the characters. If the 'best' way of coping implies that a person no longer has to deal with his pain, then Quentin fits this description, as his suicide effectively ended his mental turmoil. If the 'best' way of coping involves shifting blame, then Mrs. Compson is a perfect representation, as she places all responsibility for her three disfunctional children (Caddy, Benjy, and Quentin) on her husband's family heritage.
I think that Dilsey copes with the hardships of the Compson family the most. She has been put through so many stressful situations with that family. She practically raised the four children as well as her own and yet she is still cheerful. She's able to put aside how Mrs. Compson treats her, stand up to Jason, and ignore the whispers about Benjy in church. Dilsey is the strongest character in the whole story and deserves to be recognized for this.
If I had to choose who deals with their harsh realities in the most positive way, then I'd have to say Benjy. There is no harm in what he does, although he is a burden to take care of and haul around everywhere. He never affects those around him other than through annoyance. Due to the fact that none of these harsh realities are no where near similar. Some of these realitites are much more dramatic, Quentin's suicide versus Benjy's comfort problem. The more dramatic the problem one's having the more extreme the person will probably cope with that problem.
I agree with sdemott. Dilsey is by far the strongest character in the book, she does not let the hardships brought upon the family to affect her. If she wanted to go the route of most of the Compson family she could complain and wallow in self pity by the fact that she has to do so much work and do everything for the house and get very little in return. However; she takes all this in stride and copes with it by knowing that God has a plan and that she needs to love each one in the family as her own because that is what God would want her to do. She puts complete faith in her religion and copes with the difficult times quite well by turning to God instead of complaining to herself.
I would be inclined to agree with those who say that Dilsey copes the best with the situation, however that does not take into account the way she treats her children as second class citizens saying things to them like, "Don't sass me nigger boy," combining derogatory words that are often used to keep black people down. In this way I think I agree that Benjy does the best job of coping considering what he is capable of, however he is not capable of that much, probably not even suicide were that even a good option.
I don't know if anyone really copes better. Everyone has their own way of dealing with stressful family situation. Just because one may seem wrong to us, doesn't mean it is wrong for the person doing it.
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