The Structure In The Sound And The

Fury Essay, Research Paper

A Study of Structure in The Sound and the Fury

In his novel, The Sound and the Fury, William Faulkner employs a unique

structural assembly to relay a compelling and complex plot to his readers. As he looked

upon this work as a failure in its own right, Faulkner revealed, .…I wrote that same story

four times. None of them were right…so I printed it in four sections. (Millgate 89). His

intention upon writing this novel was not for the sole purpose of creating such a peculiar

organization, but simply to relate a short story of, as he put it, ...a little girl with muddy

drawers. (Hoffman 73). As his work progressed, this divided narrative grew into an

almost enigmatic structural masterpiece. M.Coindreau speaks of the divisions as .…four

movements of a symphony. (Millgate 91). These .movements,. may not become

apparent to the reader during his first attempt, but as he begins to listen more carefully to

the pitch of Faulkner.s song, he becomes increasingly conscious of The Sound and the

Fury.s harmonious aura.

Critics of The Sound and the Fury are quick to note the scrambled botch of ideas

and statements that the reader is faced with in the first section of the novel. The second

narration is slightly more coherent but again contains vague concepts. However, once the

reader has become familiar with Faulkner.s technique, a more in depth look can be taken

into the similarities and differences between the two characters, Benjy. and Quentin. The

parallelism of the complex structure and other literary attributes within the first two

sections of The Sound and the Fury are further developed by looking at the relationships

between the contrasting points of view and varying levels of consciousness of Benjy and

Quentin.

The opening section of the novel is narrated from the perspective of the character

Benjy, a thirty three year old man whose mind is developed no further than one of a

child. The individual sentence structure is very simple. This does not mean that the

section is simple, but there are no difficult words because the vocabulary of an idiot

would naturally be elementary. The first words of Faulkner.s creation are said by Edel

to .…take us into a bewildering world, as if we were traversing without pause the ages of

man-and in the wrong order. (100). This .bewildering world. can be understood with

significantly more clarity when Faulkner.s .stream-of -consciousness. technique is

identified and studied. In this method one idea or instance flows into another by the

relation of a person, place, or event. For example, in pages 1-3 of the novel, Benjy is

walking near a golf course. The images of the area and the voices of the golfers calling

for their caddies, remind him of a time almost twenty years prior, when he was taking a

walk in the same surroundings with his sister Caddy. The lack of a transition or any

other type of explication between these two instances cause the unprepared reader to

become confused and frustrated. Faulkner does, however, leave one clue that some form

of variance is occurring, as the type style changes to italics. Therefore, the reader must

be constantly aware of the type set and let it be an aid in understanding the novel. With

the discernment of the obscure .stream. technique and the recognition of Faulkner.s

subtle hints, one begins to employ, as Edel calls it, .…a new way of reading fiction.

(100). Also, stream-of-conciseness can be identified as a technique whereby the author

writes as though he is in the minds of the characters. Likewise, Benjy.s thought can be

interrupted halfway through a thought; sometimes he can return to it and sometimes it is

lost forever. The complexity of the structure of this initial section of the novel is

comparative to the one which ensues it. Thus, in the Benjy section everything is

presented through an apparently unorganized succession of images.

Quentin, the character who narrates the second section, as Benjy was the narrator

of the first, also produces a .stream of consciousness. in telling his tale. However, in

contrast to Benjy, Quentin.s stream reveals voluntary and involuntary thoughts and

moves between these thoughts much more quickly. As this section progresses he

becomes more and more immersed in his voluntary thoughts, as Benjy was only

conscious of what came to him naturally. Faulkner builds upon the basic method and

combines it with other techniques. He reveals his character.s mind .…interacting with

the outside world by using external incidents to either aspire or cut off an extended

memory. (Geismar 200). Faulkner also adopts techniques such as an episode of

hallucination, in which no real action occurs at all, for the presentation of a character,

.…whose tormented thoughts are in reality driving him to suicide. (Geismar 200). In the

conclusion of his section Quentin does commit suicide. Therein lies a tone of finality