Quentin and Caddy

There is obviously an interesting relationship between Quentin and Caddy. Caddy is a major topic on Quentin's mind throughout the second section of the novel. The first time Quentin had any encounter with a girl, Caddy disapproved and called her dirty. Likewise, Quentin reacts with disapproval with all men Caddy comes in contact with. Are they using other people to make each other jealous? Is it possible that the relationship between Caddy and Quentin is more than a sibling connection? What would drive Quentin to tell his father that they had an incestuous relationship or to propose mutual suicide between him and Caddy?

Can we call ourselves honorable?

One of Quentin's biggest fears is dishonor. He sees it in his family, in his schoolmates, in the whole world around him. Society as he knows it is going to ruins. Is there such thing as honor like Quentin imagines? These days there are so many crimes and sexual acts that happen....are we able to say that we are honorable being? Especially being in Madison, how would our parents look upon our actions? Maybe there is no such thing as honor anymore. Maybe all the Quentins in this world are gone.

Southern code or something more?

The Compson family shows a straying away from the tendencies of the old South. Concepts of family honor and purity mean less to characters such as Caddy and Mr. Compson. The one character who genuinely seems disturbed by this change is Quentin. Quentin tries to live his life as a gentlemen with southern ideals. He believes women should maintain their purity and men should respect them. The promiscuity of Caddy contests Quentin's beliefs and greatly upsets him. He believes Caddy has brought shame upon the Compson family name and his only way of coping with this is by committing suicide.

My questions deal with the relationship between Quentin, Caddy and morality. Is Quentin overreacting in regards to Caddy's promiscuity or does he have a right to be involved? Is Quentin only upset that Caddy is hurting the family name or is there perhaps an aspect of incest and jealously? Lastly, does Quentin have a right to be concerned about his sister's purity when there seems to be a double standard for what is considered proper sexual conduct amongst men and women?

Extremes? Benjy and Quentin

The narrative of Benjy in April 7th, 1928 and Quentin in June 2nd, 1910 both prove to be tough readings. The difficulty stems from the personalities of the two men; one is as mentally handicapped as the other is inordinately intelligent. Their accounts have strangely similar styles. Their memories tend to take on the form of a long, unexplained run-on; often times both Quentin and Benjy reflect on the same events. They also focus on similar emotions, particularly with regards to Caddy. Both brothers deep attachment to their sister Caddy plays a central role in their lives. While Quentin cannot forget her, or what she has meant (contributing to his death), Benjy cannot quite remember her--just the empty place invoked by the golfers calling their caddies. Order and chaos play a large role as well; Benjy's sensitivity to his changing environment often forces him to tears because he has no other alternative. Quentin is deeply concerned with the Southern code, which makes his accounts as unclear as Benjy's (really more ideal than content). Finally, as absent as time is from Benjy's mind, it dominates Quentin's thoughts, or rather his struggle against time.
Is the similarity between the two brought on by their Compson heritage? Does it seem like Faulkner is trying to point out something between the two brothers? Could he be putting them together as suffering the same malady, but by different names?

Tick Tick Tick…

Quentin destroys the watch he had received as a gift from his father in the beginning in the chapter. The glass and hands are removed while keeping the mechanics in tact. The watch is “alive” but useless to everyone. He takes the watch to the repair shop, but has no interest in actually getting it repaired. Quentin may think of himself as something similar, alive but useless, or “dead”.

Why would he carry around an item that reminded him of himself? Does it have something to do with his father disliking timepieces? What other significance does the watch have? What other reason would he have to destroy it?

Revised Syllabus

7 W William Faulkner: The Sound and the Fury (1929)

“April Seventh, 1928”

12 M “April Seventh, 1928”

14 W “June Second, 1910”

19 M “June Second, 1910”

21 W Finish Quentin section/begin Jason chapter

26 M Jason and Chapter 4 First paper due

28 W Finish Sound and the Fury

HOME AND RACE AT MID-CENTURY

March 5 M Richard Wright: Native Son (1940)
“Fear”
7 W “Fear” and “Flight” pp 97-116

12 M “Flight”

14 W “Fate”

19 M “Fate” and “How Bigger Was Born” pp. 433-62

21 W Lorraine Hansberry: Raisin in the Sun (1958), Act One

26 M Act Two and Act Three

28 W Midterm

Spring Break March 31-April 8

First Assignment Paper Topics!

Please be sure to bring your thesis statement and your passage to class on Friday, February 23rd.

Due in section on Friday, March 2^nd

Answers must be:

§ 750-1200 words excluding quotations (about 3-5 pages)

§ Typed in 12pt, double-spaced, Times New Roman font, and in paragraph form.

§ No generalizations in the first paragraph (as in, “The novel was a literary work that had an enormous impact on people.”)

Choose one of the following topics for your essay. You will not need to answer all the questions posed in the topics; they are there to help you think about the topic as a whole. You will need to take an argumentative stance and examine one passage (no more, no less) as supporting evidence for your view:

1. Develop an argument discussing the relationship between the narrator and the story or narrative that he/she/they are trying to convey in a specific passage. Do not address the role of the narrator(s) in the entire text (or in multiple texts). What literary forms or devices do they use to effectively convey their message? Do they follow what they “preach”? Why or why not? Are they reliable, and how does their (un)reliability effectively convey the author’s intended (or possibly unintended) message(s)? In general, what is the purpose of this narrator?
2. Discuss one minor character and his/her impact on the concept of family, home, security, gender difference, or reality in the text as a whole. You will only need to address one of the topics, but you will need to address it thoroughly.
3. Choose an element or object within the text and discuss its relationship to one character and the movement of modernism. How does this element or object exemplify modernism or criticize modernism and the modern American culture? You’ll want to first define modernism based on Prof. Schaub’s lectures then discuss the object or element.
4. Discuss and define happiness according to a specific passage in one of the texts. What does it mean to be happy? How does happiness function with respects to the character(s) and/or their definitions of family, society, or culture? Does happiness have room for the social, or is it an individual experience? Why?

Please keep in mind the following when writing this essay:

• What is my argument? What am I arguing for? What am I arguing against?]
• Does my close reading support my argument? Do I provide textual justifications for my argument?
• Is my argument convincing and logical? Would I be able to convince my TA, my professor, and a room of my peers of its validity?
• Did I write a second draft? First drafts are great for formulating ideas and experimenting with arguments. Second drafts are even better because they can refashion ideas into a more cohesive and polished product.

If you would like to discuss your paper with me, please feel free to see me during my office hours (T 11-1pm) or by appointment via eyu@wisc.edu.