Benjy the Man Child!

Having heard many discouraging remarks regarding the level of reading in "The Sound and the Fury" I was dreading reading it. But when I opened up the very first page till the middle of the second section I couldn't stop reading. Now, don't worry I won't spoil the book for you but I just couldn't stop. This story of a decaying Southern family broken by strife, misery and each other is heartbreaking and at the time very intriguing.

I question I ask today is do you think that Benjy is at all dangerous? Surely we all know that Benjy is severely mentally handicapped and has no responsibility for his actions but does that exempt him from containment? Benjy roams free on the Compson property yelling, crying and making a genuine fuss but did anyone ever stop and think if this is really the right place for him? His mother abhors him, his sister ruins her own life with decadent promiscuity and his brother Quentin goes insane.

The point in the novel that caused me to ask this gloomy question is when Benjy is screaming for Caddy as schoolgirls pass the property, he gets loose and runs after them frightening them half to death. Could he have hurt them? Is he capable and would he know that he had done something wrong? Is the Compson property the right place for him or would he be better in an institution where people know how is take care of an individual like himself?

Family Dynamic in Sound and the Fury

Reading the first chapter of The Sound and the Fury, I was intrigued by the interaction of the main characters and the personalities of those same characters. His use of the children as the narrators of the book created a sense of innocence around the family. I think it made the book more interesting, in a way, because the point of view was so original. Do you think Faulkner's use of the children as narrators, especially Benjy, was a good move on the part of Faulkner or a bad move on his part?

The interacton of the mother and father was also a major part of the first chapter of the novel. The relationship between them and between them and the kids was a timeless example of what we know to be a real family. I think that the use of Benjy's young voice and mind gave us a very simple and straightforward view of this family. Although hard to get through, the first chapter is an excellent way to introduce complex characters and intertwined character emotions. Do you think that this was Faulkner's goal when writing this novel?

Benjy: a good narrator?

After reading the first chapter of Faulkner's novel I was a little taken aback. I was not prepared to start reading a story from the point of view of the manchild Benjy. I was unhappy as I tried to muddle through his confusing thoughts one after another. His inability to distinguish between the past and the present made it especially difficult. Faulkner made it a little easier by italicizing a portion of the writing prior to changing time periods, but towards the end of the chapter he did not even do this. Fortunately I started to catch on and towards the end of the chapter I actually started to enjoy what I was reading, although it was still somewhat confusing.

My questions regarding this first chapter revolve around Faulkner's decision to use Benjy as the first narrator. Do you think that Faulkner made a good decision by allowing his readers to begin the story in the mind of the mentally retarded Benjy? Do you think that Benjy was chosen as the first narrator because he would tell the story from an objective point of view, or do you feel that he is not a reliable narrator and biased in some way?

Using action and limited knowledge to portray emotion

In Big Hearted River, we are introduced to a new side of the post-war Nick. Now that he is free from society and on his own in the wild, Nick is presented as relaxed, comfortable, and at home. This is a sharp contrast from the traumatized and apathetic Nick we saw in Soldier's Home. To convey the message of a troubled veteran finding inner peace in the serenity of nature, Hemingway uses detailed description of the the actual events in the story while providing us only a limited understanding of Nick's desires, experiences and motives.

Throughout the story, Hemingway meticulously details nearly all of Nick's actions. From this alone we can infer a great deal about how he has been changed by the war and in conjunction with the other stories why this change took place. The tranquility of nature reminds Nick of when he was a child and when life was simpler. By using powerful imagery, Hemingway creates a portrait of Nick's quest to escape his painful war memories.

Although it is easy to see how and even partly why detachment from civilization is calming for Nick, there is a great deal about Nick that is not revealed. Things like why Nick often seems to blissfully regress into ignorance, why he seems content in making arbitrary choices (camp location), and why he avoids getting too excited are simply stated and no indication as to what Nick's reasoning is can be found. By forcing the reader to read between the lines and interpret Nick's actions, Hemingway brings the character to life.

Detailed imagery of Nick's actions and environment show the reader what Nick sees and why he feels at peace in nature. Leaving some of his motives and psychology unknown creates a more complex character and also shows how only someone who has experienced certain tragic events can ever comprehend their significance.

Change in Nick's Character

When I read Big Two-Hearted River Part I the first thing I noticed was that Hemingway had turned back to the character of Nick. The only thing was that Nick's character didn't seem to be the same person as he was in the earlier stories. In The Three Days Blow Nick was a frustrated young man, and life seemed to be overwhelming him. It seemed as though he desired to get away from conventional society and everything that was around him. In the Big Two-Hearted River, Nick seems to have found happiness and his character is no longer the angry young man he was before.

Nick slipped off his pack and lay down in the shade. He lay on his back and looked up into the pine trees. His neck and back and the small of his back rested as he stretched. The earth felt good against his back. (Hemingway, 137)

Passages like this abound in this story and portray Nick as a man at peace with himself and his environment. So, what has caused this change in Nick's character? Was it simply the passage of time, the new environment he's in, or was it something that has happened to Nick that caused him to change? I believe that the new pristine environment and the absence of others has caused this change. What do you think?

Post per Dan K.

After reading “Soldier’s Home” I was given a false representation of what it was like for all soldiers coming home from the war. I do believe that many of the soldiers feel a dismembered feeling from the general public, but I also think that many are oriented with some aspects of themselves.

“Seney was burned, the country was burned over and changed, but it did not matter. It could not all be burned” (135).

“[Nick] was happy” (134).

Another thing that I noticed was a sense of direction from Nick, who was made out to be emotionally lost. At first I read it as a geographical sense of direction, but interpreted it to be more.

“He did not need to get his map out. He knew where he was from the position of the river” (135).

“Nick kept his direction by the sun. He knew where he wanted to strike the river and kept on through the pine plain…” (136).

“The sun was nearly down… He knew it could not be more than a mile” (137).

Although Hemingway portrays his characters to be melancholy lost souls, but also hints that some come from the war with direction, is this a clever literary trick by Hemingway to neutralize our feelings about WWI?

Waiting, Wishing, Wanting

In "Big-Hearted River: Part One" Nick travels to the town of Seney to camp and escape from the world. Sadly, Nick finds that the town has been burnt to the ground. Nick goes through the woods not as a man but as a returning veteran. The town is a metaphor that everything anbout his home, his life is burnt and abandoned.

One of the most important metaphors in the story are the black grasshoppers. Nick spends a great deal of time observing them. These grasshoppers were not black before the town had erupted in fire but now they are. Nick wonders how long they will remain black. The grasshoppers are evident to be metaphors for Nick and his fellow traumatized soldiers. The grasshoppers as well as the soldiers have been hardened from their past and from which there is no escape.

My question as well as Nick's is how long with the grasshoppers [soldiers] stay black? Will they ever be able to shed the misery of the war and see life as a beautiful thing or will they submit to the darkness and simply wait for the end?