The Compson Family In The Sound And The Fury

William Faulkner suspects that man's self-destructive nature will lead to doom, and constructed the parable of the Compson family in The Sound and The Fury to illustrate how the human race will react to confronting their demise. Caddy shows such strength that the entire family depends on her to keep its frail bonds from breaking, despite her looming promiscuity represented through water, and reminded to Quentin by honeysuckles. Quentin appears normal on the surface, but his inner soul rages with conflict and desperation, portrayed through the use of clocks and obsession of time. Shadows are used to foreshadow Quentin’s fate, as well as characterize Benjy, who simply withdraws into himself. Finally, Jason delves deeper into his cynicism and
Playing in the stream, Caddy seems to epitomize purity and innocence. However, she muddies her underclothes, which foreshadows her later promiscuity. After Caddy lost her virginity, no amount of water could cleanse her, an ironic reversal of the traditional use of symbolic baptism. Water is also a "return-to-the-womb" symbol, as well as a symbol of mortality; Quentin's suicide symbolizes both. The death fits Quentin's personality; he is a shadow of a true character, and as he leaps into the water, his shadow from below rises up to greet him. Thus, suicide by drowning cleanses Quentin of all responsibility of living with the knowledge of Caddy's
Despite his efforts to combat the symbol, the honeysuckle remains in Quentin’s mind as representative of his anxieties. Benjy, Quentin, and Jason all struggle against the passing of time, which leads to the ultimate destruction of the family. The emphasis on the shadows of objects as well as the objects themselves become a symbol of the darker side of every situation, such as the declining Compson family, which is only a shadow of its former self. “I seed de beginnin, en now I sees de