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Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury: Narration, Voice, and the Compson Family's New System
Introduction
The third chapter of The Sound and the Fury is told from the perspective of Jason Compson, now the patriarchal head of the family, after his father's death, Quentin's suicide, and Caddy's abandonment of her own daughter (also named Quentin). Jason's new familial system is set against the backdrop of rapid and noticeable change throughout the South in the early 20th century: economic transitions (stock market vs. aristocratic wealth via land and slave holdings), technological shifts (fast cars vs. slow horse/buggies), and social changes (new roles for women and African Americans in the South). Alongside this modernization of society, Jason criticizes what he considers as Mrs. Compson's antiquated "system" of "flesh and blood" family obligations. As the head of the family, Jason is violent, mean, and greedy. His leadership does not bode well for keeping intact the remaining remnants of the Compson family, ultimately indicating the passing of both the Old South at large and its one-time aristocratic families such as the Compsons.
Guiding Question
- In what ways does Jason successfully and/or unsuccessfully try to create a 'new system' for the Compson family, of which he is now the symbolic head?
- In what ways is the Compson family representative of the Old South?
Learning Objectives
After completing this curriculum unit, students will be able to:
- Compare and contrast narrative speakers in The Sound and the Fury
- Discuss Jason as a representation of the Compson's changing family structure
- To describe Faulkner's "South" in the context of the historical South and understand how the South was changing socially and economically in the early 20th century
Preparing to Teach This Lesson
- Review the curriculum unit overview and the lesson plan. Locate and bookmark suggested materials and other useful websites. Download and print out any documents you will use and duplicate copies as necessary for student viewing.
- This lesson will cover only chapter three, although students will be expected to read the entire novel closely. If you are using this lesson as a stand-alone lesson, be sure to review with students Activity 1: Introduction to Faulkner's South from the Curriculum Unit Overview.
- Students can access the novel and some of the activity materials via the EDSITEment LaunchPad.
Suggested Activities
1. First-person Point of View: Compare and Contrast
Ask students to compare and contrast the use of first person point of view in the Benjy, Quentin, and Jason chapters. Teachers might consider assigning a one-page reader response paper due the first day of this lesson, so that students are prepared to discuss preliminary ideas in class. In class, students should begin by discussing their general response to this chapter. They most likely will begin to feel more grounded and comfortable discussing the novel's plot. Teachers can use the beginning of class discussion to ensure that students are on the same page in terms of the novel's basic plot. Drawing from students' initial reactions to the chapter and its narrative point of view, teachers might consider using some or all of the following questions to guide discussion:
- All three chapters so far use the first-person point of view. How is the use of the first person different in each chapter?
- Does Benjy's first-person narration reveal more about his own character or more about the Compson family?
- Does Quentin's first-person narrative reveal more about his own character or more about the Compson family (or both)?
- What about Jason's first-person narration?
As students begin discussing how each narrator differs, as well as the similarities they share, ask students to help complete the chart (available here as a PDF) on a black/whiteboard (save the completed chart for use in Lesson Four, where students will complete the chart by filling in the "Dilsey" section). Note: this chart can serve as an effective substitute for the reaction essay suggested above as an at-home exercise.
2. Narrative Structure and Characterization
Students will review several key passages from this chapter that help to describe Jason as a character in relation to the Compson family and its "new system." The focus of this activity is the relationship between narrative structure (form) and characterization (content).
Key passages include the following:
- I saw red. When I recognised that red tie, after all I had told her, I forgot
about everything. I never thought about my head even until I came to the first
forks and had to stop. Yet we spend money and spend money on roads and dam
if it isn't like trying to drive over a sheet of corrugated iron roofing.
I'd like to know how a man could be expected to keep up with even a wheelbarrow.
I think too much of my car; I'm not going to hammer it to pieces like it was
a ford. Chances were they had stolen it, anyway, so why should they give a
dam. Like I say blood always tells. If you've got blood like that in you,
you'll do anything. I says whatever claim you believe she has on you has already
been discharged; I says from now on you have only yourself to blame because
you know what any sensible person would do. I says if I've got to spend half
my time being a dam detective, at least I'll go where I can get paid for it.
Note to Teacher: This passage illustrates how Faulkner's noticeably shorter
and direct sentences quicken the pace of the novel, reflecting Jason's own
hot-headedness and fast-paced actions (symbolized by his car, and his obsession
with it, and his seeing "red"). First ask students to think about the pacing
and tone of the sentences - how does that shape Jason's character in their
mind? Ask students to consider the symbolism of the color red itself (Jason's
literal and figurative "I saw red," as well as the red family blood, etc).
- I'll be damned if they dont dress like they were trying to make every man
they passed on the street want to reach out and clap his hand on it. And so
I was thinking what kind of a dam man would wear a red tie when all of a sudden
I knew he was one of those show folks well as if she'd told me. Well, I can
stand a lot; if I couldn't dam if I wouldn't be in a hell of a fix, so when
they turned the corner I jumped down and followed. Me, without any hat, in
the middle of the afternoon, having to chase up and down back alleys because
of my mother's good name. Like I say you cant do anything with a woman like
that, if she's got it in her. If it's in her blood, you cant do anything with
her. The only thing you can do is to get rid of her, let her go on and live
with her own sort.
I went on to the street, but they were out of sight. And there I was, without
any hat, looking like I was crazy too. Like a man would naturally think, one
of them is crazy and another one drowned himself and the other one was turned
out into the street by her husband, what's the reason the rest of them are
not crazy too. All the time I could see them watching me like a hawk, waiting
for a chance to say Well I'm not surprised I expected it all the time the
whole family's crazy. Selling land to send him to Harvard and paying taxes
to support a state University all the time that I never saw except twice at
a baseball game and not letting her daughter's name be spoken on the place
until after a while Father wouldn't even come down town anymore but just sat
there all day with the decanter I could see the bottom of his nightshirt and
his bare legs and hear the decanter clinking until finally T.P. had to pour
it for him and she says You have no respect for your Father's memory and I
says I dont know why not it sure is preserved well enough to last only if
I'm crazy too
Note to Teacher: This passage reveals Jason's temper. His concern about not
having on a hat is tied to his attempt at upholding the family's image and
once good name. His reference to Quentin's (Caddy's daughter's) blood indicates
his belief that Quentin inherited her mother's disrespect for the Compson
name and social standing (albeit a declining standing). Jason's violence and
meanness toward Quentin throughout this chapter suggests that he symbolically
regards her as the embodiment of the decaying Compson family. Not only does
she represent Caddy; she represents Quentin as well. The second paragraph
suggests that Jason believes that he is the only hope for the family. This
paragraph provides a clear summary of the novel's course of events, which
most likely have been unclear until the Jason chapter, especially until this
passage.
As you review these sample passages (and other key passages of your own selection),
ask students the following questions about each passage:
- What 2-3 adjectives best describe Jason in this passage?
- What effect does Jason have at this point in the novel on the unfolding plot?
- What effect does Jason have at this point in the novel on the other characters?
Then lead a general discussion about this chapter, using the following guiding questions:
- What kind of new system does Jason envision for the Compson family?
- How does this system differ from the Compson family as presented by Benjy and Quentin?
- Does Jason succeed in creating this new Compson family system? Why or why not?
3. The Changing South
Not only does the Jason chapter reveal the final stages of the Compson's family's
decline, but it also portrays the changing South-economically (stock market vs.
aristocratic wealth via land and slave holdings); technologically (fast cars vs.
slow horse/buggies); and socially (new roles for women and African-Americans in
the South). Divide students into small groups to explore these topics (assigning
two groups for each topic if necessary). Each group will conduct online research
related to one of the following topics. Mention to students that each group will
present to the class at large a 5-to-10-minute overview of the topic and its relevance
to the Jason chapter and the novel in general. Students can access the novel and some of the activity materials via the EDSITEment LaunchPad.
- Blood/The Old South: The significance of flesh and blood and the
importance of Southern family heritage. First ask students to review the Compson
family tree from the EDSITEment-reviewed University of Mississippi "William
Faulkner on the Web." Then ask this group to read pages 20 through 34
of "The Old South"
from the EDSITEment-reviewed University of North Carolina's "Documenting
the American South." After reviewing this editorial, students should answer
the following questions.
This Old South aristocracy was of threefold structure - it was an aristocracy
of wealth, of blood, and of honor. It was not the wealth of the shoddy
aristocracy that here and there, even in the New South, has forced itself
into notice and vulgarly flaunts its acquisitions. It came by inheritance
of generations chiefly, as with the nobility of England and France. Only
in the aristocracy of the Old World could there be found a counterpart
to the luxury, the ease and grace of inherited wealth, which characterized
the ruling class of the Old South. There were no gigantic fortunes as
now, and wealth was not increased or diminished by our latter-day methods
of speculation or prodigal and nauseating display. The ownership of a
broad plantation, stately country and city homes, of hundreds of slaves,
of accumulations of money and bonds, passed from father to children for
successive generations. (20-21)
[…]
His aristocracy of wealth was as nothing compared to his aristocracy
of blood. An old family name that had held its place in the social and
political annals of his State for generations was a heritage vastly dearer
to him than wealth. Back to the gentle-blooded Cavaliers who came to found
this Western world, he delighted to trace his ancestry. There could be
no higher honor to him than to link his name with the men who had planted
the tree of liberty and made possible a great republic. (24)
- What is the significance of "blood" in this editorial?
- What five adjectives describe aristocratic individuals of the Old South?
- How did many southern aristocrats accumulate wealth? How does this differ
from the wealth of the New South?
- What issues were important to them?
- How does this writer describe the African-American servants for families
of the Old South?
- Can you compare and contrast this editorial's description of African-American
servants to Dilsey and the other members of the Gibson family?
- How did many southern aristocrats accumulate wealth?
- How is the Compson family's sale of Benjy's pasture symbolic?
- What effect(s) did this sale have on the Compson family and Jason's
place within that family?
Read from page
30, beginning:
"SIDE by side with the aristocrat, waiting deferentially to do his bidding,
with a grace and courtliness hardly surpassed by his master, I place the
negro servant of the Old South"
to this concluding paragraph on page
33:
"Whenever you find a negro whose education comes not from books and college
only, but from the example and home teaching and training of his white master
and mistress, you will generally find one who speaks the truth, is honest,
self-respecting and self-restraining, docile and reverent, and always the
friend of the Southern white gentleman and lady. Here and there
in the homes of the New South these graduates from the school of slavery
are to be found in the service of old families and their descendants, and
the relationship is one of peculiar confidence and affection …
- How does this writer describe the African-American servants for families
of the Old South?
- What is your impression of this writer’s view of African-Americans and
what he thinks of their role in society?
- Can you compare and contrast this editorial’s description of African-American
servants to Dilsey and the other members of the Gibson family?
- Jason's Greed: Not only was Jason stealing the money Caddy sent
for Quentin by cashing the checks for himself; he was "speculating" (i.e.,
gambling) at the Western Union on the cotton stock market. Ask students to
review the following passage:
"Keep still," I says. "I'll get it." I went up stairs and got the bank book
out of her desk and went back to town. I went to the bank and deposited the
check and the money order and the other ten, and stopped at the telegraph
office. It was one point above the opening. I had already lost thirteen points,
all because she had to come helling in there at twelve, worrying me about
that letter.
"What time did that report come in?" I says. "About an hour ago," he says.
"An hour ago?" I says. "What are we paying you for?" I says. "Weekly reports?
How do you expect a man to do anything? The whole dam top could blow off and
we'd not know it."
"I dont expect you to do anything," he says. "They changed that law making
folks play the cotton market."
"They have?" I says. "I hadn't heard. They must have sent the news out over
the Western Union."
I went back to the store. Thirteen points. Dam if I believe anybody knows
anything about the dam thing except the ones that sit back in those New York
offices and watch the country suckers come up and beg them to take their money.
Well, a man that just calls shows he has no faith in himself, and like I say
if you aren't going to take the advice, what's the use in paying money for
it. Besides, these people are right up there on the ground; they know everything
that's going on. I could feel the telegram in my pocket. I'd just have to
prove that they were using the telegraph company to defraud. That would constitute
a bucket shop. And I wouldn't hesitate that long, either. Only be damned if
it doesn't look like a company as big and rich as the Western Union could
get a market report out on time. Half as quick as they'll get a wire to you
saying Your account closed out. But what the hell do they care about the people.
They're hand in glove with that New York crowd. Anybody could see that
Next ask students to explore the following links related to the New York Stock
Exchange, From the EDSITEment-reviewed America's
Library's:
- The
New York Stock Exchange
- Risk
of the Stock Market before the Great Depression
Students should consider the following questions:
- How does an investor make money in the stock market?
- How was Jason trying to make money?
- What risks are involved in investing in the stock market?
- What is the difference between wealth gained via the stock market and
wealth via land ownership?
- What is Jason's job?
- Jason's Symbolic Car: Turn to the EDSITEment-reviewed Smithsonian
Institution's National Museum of
American History's virtual exhibition "America
on the Move." Explore in particular the following chapters of the exhibition:
- "Americans
Adopt the Automobile"
- The "Road
Improvements" paragraph
- Images of 1920s
automobiles
Students should consider the following questions:
- How would you describe Jason's relationship with his car?
- What is the relationship between the car and Jason's sense of his own
manliness?
- What is significant about the fact that Jason's car (the gasoline) gives
him headaches (consider that Jason is the new "head" of the family)? What
about the fact that he cannot drive his own car back after chasing Quentin
and the circus performer?
- How would you compare Jason's car to the car driving by Gerald's mother
in the Quentin chapter (1910)? Describe Gerald's background.
- African-Americans in the Old and New South: The Sound and the Fury
is set during the time of Jim Crow laws, which legally maintained segregation
and generated racism and Southern white hatred toward African Americans. This
group will explore the following resources as they consider the transition
from the Old South to the New South.
Have each student group present each topic to the full class. Wrap up this activity
with a general class discussion, guided by the following questions:
- How would you compare Jason's obsession with money and his car to Southern
aristocratic wealth?
- How would you describe the pace of the 1910 Quentin chapter in contrast
to the pace of the 1928 Jason chapter? What is significant about these differences
in relation to the changing South at large?
- How does the setting differ between the present 1928 Jason chapter and all
recollections (in the Benjy and Quentin chapters) of the Compson children's
childhoods?
Assessment
- Ask students to create a reading journal, noting details such as Faulkner's
use of narrative structure/time, narrative voice/point of view, form, and
character. In this journal, students should cite passages and raise questions
for class discussion. Collect the journal at the end of the curriculum unit.
- Ask students to note the major events detailed throughout the Jason chapter
and arrange them chronologically. Students can update the timeline as they
continue the novel.
- Students may write a brief essay or reading journal entry on one of the
following questions, citing at least three examples from the text:
- How does Jason's pace and sense of time differ from that of Benjy and
Quentin?
- What are some major differences between 1928 (the time of Jason's chapter)
and 1910 (the time of Quentin's chapter)? What do those differences reflect
about the Compsons and their home in the South?
Selected EDSITEment Websites
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