Benjy's Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Born in late 1897, William Faulkner was a famous prolific writer who has been regarded as one of the most influential writers of the twentieth century. Faulkner came from an old southern family, growing up in Oxford, Mississippi. He joined the Canadian, and later the British Royal Air Force during World War I, and studied for a while at the University of Mississippi. He also temporarily worked for a New York bookstore and a New Orleans newspaper. He is remembered for being both a Southern gentleman and an arrogant alcoholic, perhaps shedding light onto his volatile and unique writing styles. Faulkner had many novels published between the 1920s and the 1940s, and was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1949. Faulkner is best known for …show more content…
Growing up, he was attached to his sister Caddy and was heartbroken when she was sent away. I know I was attached to my mother for the first decade of my life, and anytime she would leave me at all I would go into panic mode. Benjy was very sensitive to changes in others around him, such as when Caddy wore perfume and understood that she lost her virginity; these revelations upset Benjy greatly as he would howl and moan in sadness. Being diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder, I have taken a liking to things being in a particular order, and when my order is obstructed I tend to become very irritated. As I have grown up, I have learned to deal with my issues and have been able to tackle them before they got the best of me. Sometimes I feel like an outcast inside my family, just as Benjy was. My family is very relaxed and outgoing, and some of my relatives are geniuses in their own right. I tend to get nervous in social settings, and perhaps come off like an idiot with nothing to say. However, once I get a little liquor in me I can become very gregarious and still end up making a fool out of myself. Even if I can be shy, I am no innocent girl. Benjy on the other hand is plagued by ignorance because he literally doesn’t know any better. His innocence is both a blessing and a curse, since he is somewhat shielded from his disastrous family and doesn’t have to deal with the shame and anger brought upon by his mother and his brother, Jason. He is able to somewhat forget about Caddy’s absence and not have to deal with the gravity of his father, grandmother, and brother’s tragic deaths. It is an obvious curse because he is unable to experience life as a normal person, and can never have meaningful and lasting relationships with others. He is always kept in the dark about reality, but he is always a source of shame for his family. In this way it makes him vulnerable AND