Benjy's Argumentative Essay

William Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury tells of a crumbling southern family, the Compsons, through the inner thoughts of three brothers and a third person narrator. Each of the three sections gives a different perspective on their sister, Caddy, who is the main cause of the turmoil in the family. The brother’s, Benjy, Quentin, and Jason, each interpret Caddy differently based on each of their interior conflicts. Benjy’s section gives the reader the perspective of the Caddy from a simple minded perspective, and describes Caddy as such. Quentin, being highly educated, gives a deeper look into Caddy and how she leads the family, and Quentin, to their end. Jason views Caddy as a disappointment and a curse upon the family. In Jason’s interpretation
This disability makes it difficult for Benjy to interpret the world, his only real way of understanding the world is through his sense of smell. This uncanny gift of his has given Benjy the ability to perceive changes in other people based off their scent. When Benjy was a teenager his father’s life was linked to the bottom of a bottle, and as soon as “A door opened [he] could smell it more than ever, and a head came out. It wasn’t [Benjy’s] Father. Father was sick there.” (Faulkner 34). Benjy’s father just passed away and even though Benjy was not allowed in the room he knew that something had changed in his father. Benjy expresses his knowledge about his Father’s death through his whimpering and bawling.This is Benjy’s only way of expression because his mental disability makes him mute. One day while Benjy was at home Caddy walks in wearing perfume. Benjy describes this experience to the reader, “I went away and I didn't hush, and she held the bottle in her hand, looking at me.”(Faulkner 42). It was not until Caddy washed off the perfume that Benjy calmed down again, and when she did Benjy describes that “she smelled like trees again.” (Faulkner 43). The smell of trees is how Benjy identifies Caddy when she is a child, and still
Jason , being the only capably male in his family, has taken over as head of the family. As if the pressures of this role are not enough, Caddy, after being banished, is forced to leave her daughter, Miss Quentin, under Jason’s care. Jason, hates Caddy for leaving him with the burden of raising her child. However his hate for her starts back when Caddy is to get married to Herbert Head, a prominent banker who promises Jason a job as a banker. After the marriage Herbert finds out that Caddy got impregnated and was using the marriage as a coverup and quickly divorces her leaving Jason without a banker position. This resentment that Jason feels for Caddy gets passed on to her daughter. Jason’s section starts with, “Once a bitch always a bitch, what I say.” Showing the similarities in Miss Quentin and her mother's actions (Faulkner 180). Jason in his first line passes the torch of his hatred of his sister on to his niece. Jason’s hatred of the both of them flows so deep within his veins that he steals the money that Caddy sends to Quentin monthly. Eventually Quentin finds out about her Uncle's deceptiveness and steals the money back from him. This loss of what Jason feels he deserves drives him to chase after Miss Quentin, because he feels that Caddy already took the job that he deserved, and he cannot let her take the money that he deserves too.