Question Five: Faulkner's narrative expertise

Faulkner's manipulates a unique flow in his novel The Sound and the Fury by having different chapters be narratives of certain characters. This structure that Faulkner uses is strangely effective in developing not only the characters possessing the narrative, but the other characters in the novel as well. He does this by using similar motifs, such as the door for example, in more than just one chapter, but including perspectives from different characters in their own narratives. Additionally, while the speaker may change from chapter to chapter, the flow somehow stay constant. It is a difficult novel to endure because the sense of time is so blurred, but this is where Faulkner's brilliance really lies. Each narrative is so unique in its dealing with time that one cannot help but marvel at Faulkner's revolutionary style.

One character who was perfectly defined by his dealing with time was Benjy. Because of his disability, time was nothing to him. Things just happened. He would cut into his flashbacks with present occurrences and he would cut into his present life with flashbacks. There was just no end to it. However, somehow, in this midst of chaotic streaming, Faulkner was able to develop the character of Benjy, better than I could have ever imagined. Benjy's point of development may lie in his dealing... or non-dealing with time while Jason's development lies with his sense of entitlement or the underlying motif of money prevalent throughout his narrative. Each character possesses unique motifs or themes in his or her narrative, and I believe this uniqueness effectively develops Faulkner's primary characters.

Putting all literary devices and whatnot aside, what Faulkner does in his novel is brilliant, but a pretty obvious solution for sound development. A first-hand account of a battle will of course be more credible than that of a history books, although the history book will be preferred because it will lack the bias present in the first-hand account. On the contrary, a primary source is always exemplary in a novel because the only true way to know a character is by reading his/her views from a first-person perspective. Faulkner's use of different narratives for each of his primary characters is unique in the sense that most novels do not do this type of thing, but pretty obvious at the same time because of course a character will be better developed when you let them do it themselves, instead of the development coming from a narrator or other characters in the novel.

Faulkner's use of narrative structure enables the reader to understand events from that particular character's point of view, whether it be influenced by pre-conceived feelings or not. The characters in The Sound and the Fury are not only disfunctional but altogether corrupt; however, Faulkner's choice of having different narratives for the primary characters effectively develops the characters and makes it easier to relate to the characters for the reader.

Faulkner's Brilliance

After reading the beginning of Sound and the Fury, I am more than merely impressed at the way Faulkner enables the reader to feel like he/she is right there in the novel. Sure, most authors' goal is to use literary devices to put the reader right into the novel themselves, but Faulkner might achieve this goal better than any author I've read before.

Although the first chapter is hard to follow to say the least, I understand that it has to be this way. Faulkner really captures the thought process of a person with disability like Benjy better than I've read before. If I were to imagine how a person with Benjy's disability would write or think, it would be exactly how Faulkner conveys it.

I believe the key to Faulkner's brilliance lies in the message he sends in his review of Sound and the Fury. The fact that he is not trying to tell a story the whole time is extremely important in his efectiveness. Instead of worrying about following the story, or focusing on the plot, the reader is able to merely experience the text through Faulkner's style of conveying events. Benjy's actions and cutting flashbacks of the past perfectly portray what I had imagined it to be like for a person with a similar disability; having one's thoughts skewed/scrambled seemed extremely plausible. I'm excited to continue reading further chapters from the novel because if Faulkner can pull off Benjy with such greatness, there is no limit to what he can do with the other characters' narratives.