Jason Compson In The Sound And The Fury

In Faulkner’s The Sound and The Fury Jason Compson was unintentionally cheated out of a prosperous future by his immediate self-absorbed family. Jason was born to two self envying parents, who cared more about themselves than their family. Mr. Compson, an alcoholic, drank himself to death. His wife force fed Jason hatred towards the family by singling him out as a Bascomb and not a Compson, therefore installing the mentality that he is different from his siblings and they are beneath him. Quentin, his older brother, was able to go to Harvard, where he commits suicide, but in order to send him there the family sold their land. When Quentin died so did the family’s status, and Jason’s hopes of going to an Ivy League. This chance at success was
In a conversation Jason has with Mrs. Compson, she mentions, “When they began to sell the land to send Quentin to Harvard I told your father that he must make an equal provision for you” (Faulkner 262). However, this provision was not made because Mr. Compson, an alcoholic, died before anything can be done in favor of his middle son. Quentin ended up killing himself at school, the selling of the pasture was money wasted in the eyes of Jason. Ulrike Nüssler writes that “The Harvard obsession shows that Mrs. Compson clings to social categories for which she is even willing to risk economic loss through the loss of family property.” (575 Nüssler). The Compsons are so obsessed with status and flaunting their money even though they do not have any. This prompts Jason later in life to cling onto any fortune that he comes across, even if it means stealing from his niece. However, Jason and Mrs. Compson declare that “We Bascombs need nobody’s charity. Certainly not that of a fallen woman”(Faulkner 220). The Compsons’ trick themselves into thinking that they do not need the money from Caddy because their pride is held higher than their financial
Compson has been force-feeding feelings of hatred towards the family to Jason throughout his life by setting him apart from his siblings. Although she sent Quentin to Harvard, it does not necessarily mean that he is the favorite of both parents, but that she is so obsessed with the status that comes with going to an Ivy League school that she would bankrupt the family over it. Caddy makes enough money to send over to the Compsons’ each month to sustain her family. Instead of seeing these checks as gratitude Mrs. Compson tells Jason that “[Caddy] will realize that she and Quentin have had their share and part of Jason’s too, and that it depends on her now to compensate him.” (Faulkner 262) Mrs. Compson believes that because of Harvard and getting pregnant are the highlights of her children's’ lives, that they have stolen Jason's limelight. She does not see the checks as gratitude for taking care of Miss Quentin but rather as something that Caddy must be obligated to do because Jason never got a chance at a successful life. Jason is a “true Bascomb” (Faulkner 182) and, therefore, connects more with his mother. He also has not left the house, although he saved up enough money to do so because he would rather have these thoughts about his family than forget about them. Throughout his childhood Caddy constantly challenged him, “ Caddy demands that she be in charge; no one fights her except Jason, and only outright aggression makes him act.” (Wagner 557) Miss Quentin is