The Sound and the Fury

Can any of my fellow stamp collecters with a secondary addiction to
literature explain for me the ending of "The Sound and the Fury " by
William Faulkner. I would be most gratified and thankful.And , .now, back to
my album. Elma

Is this of any assistance?
http://www.mcsr.olemiss.edu/~egjbp/faulkner/n-sf.html


"Elma Steinmayer" wrote in message ...
| Can any of my fellow stamp collecters with a secondary addiction to
| literature explain for me the ending of "The Sound and the Fury " by
| William Faulkner. I would be most gratified and thankful.And , .now, back to
| my album. Elma
|
|

On Wed, 9 Jun 2004 06:45:25 -0700, "Elma Steinmayer"
wrote:

Can any of my fellow stamp collecters with a secondary addiction to
literature explain for me the ending of "The Sound and the Fury " by
William Faulkner. I would be most gratified and thankful.And , .now, back to
my album. Elma




Elma:

Not an "easy" read.

The story is about the decline and end of a Southern family.
It is a novel about intense passionate family relationships wherein
there is no love, only self-centredness.

But it is more. It is a parable of the Old South and the demise of
old ways.. and even beyond that it examines the nature of mankind.

It is presented as a "stream of thought" and is formatted as a series
of "monologues" by various characters. The last part is from an
outside observer's viewpoint.

In terms of present time, the story takes place on Easter weekend,
1928 (with flashbacks). Mrs. Compson is sick in bed, as usual.
Jason, now the patriarch of the family, works in a hardware store.
It is the weekend of Benjy's thirty-third birthday, and
the circus is in town.

Miss Quentin, Caddy's daughter, has taken up with a circus
performer. She confronts her Uncle Jason about the money he has
been stealing. They get in an argument, which is common for the
two of them. Jason threatens and bullies her, his mother, the black
family that works for them, and his retarded brother Benjy.

Miss Quentin snaps and runs away, stealing several thousand dollars
back from Jason (money he first stole from her).

Jason tries in vain to find her and punish her. He returns and puts
his brother Benjy in an asylum, since he has no other way to punish
his sister or the world for all the wrongs he feels have been done to
him.

The key is in Dilsey, the cook. She sees everything as signs that
"the end is near". She is probably more correct than she realizes.

I hope this helps and doesn't confuse you even more.

Blair

| Not an "easy" read.

Is it a "good" read in your opinion Blair?
bearing in mind I failed at about 2/3rds the way through "Ulysses"
if you can use that as a yardstick.

On Thu, 10 Jun 2004 10:48:27 +0800, "Rodney"
wrote:

| Not an "easy" read.

Is it a "good" read in your opinion Blair?
bearing in mind I failed at about 2/3rds the way through "Ulysses"
if you can use that as a yardstick.



Well, it is intellectually challenging and that can also mean
a "good" read. However if you're tired and want an easy, relaxing
read, I would suggest that it is not really one of those.

Blair

Blair: Thank you. You were very helpful. One puzzle-- where did you find
that Benjy was confined by Jason at the end?? Elma
"Blair (TC)" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 9 Jun 2004 06:45:25 -0700, "Elma Steinmayer"
wrote:

Can any of my fellow stamp collecters with a secondary addiction to
literature explain for me the ending of "The Sound and the Fury " by
William Faulkner. I would be most gratified and thankful.And , .now, back
to
my album. Elma




Elma:

Not an "easy" read.

The story is about the decline and end of a Southern family.
It is a novel about intense passionate family relationships wherein
there is no love, only self-centredness.

But it is more. It is a parable of the Old South and the demise of
old ways.. and even beyond that it examines the nature of mankind.

It is presented as a "stream of thought" and is formatted as a series
of "monologues" by various characters. The last part is from an
outside observer's viewpoint.

In terms of present time, the story takes place on Easter weekend,
1928 (with flashbacks). Mrs. Compson is sick in bed, as usual.
Jason, now the patriarch of the family, works in a hardware store.
It is the weekend of Benjy's thirty-third birthday, and
the circus is in town.

Miss Quentin, Caddy's daughter, has taken up with a circus
performer. She confronts her Uncle Jason about the money he has
been stealing. They get in an argument, which is common for the
two of them. Jason threatens and bullies her, his mother, the black
family that works for them, and his retarded brother Benjy.

Miss Quentin snaps and runs away, stealing several thousand dollars
back from Jason (money he first stole from her).

Jason tries in vain to find her and punish her. He returns and puts
his brother Benjy in an asylum, since he has no other way to punish
his sister or the world for all the wrongs he feels have been done to
him.

The key is in Dilsey, the cook. She sees everything as signs that
"the end is near". She is probably more correct than she realizes.

I hope this helps and doesn't confuse you even more.

Blair

On Thu, 10 Jun 2004 21:14:30 -0700, "Elma Steinmayer"
wrote:

Blair: Thank you. You were very helpful. One puzzle-- where did you find
that Benjy was confined by Jason at the end?? Elma

================================================== ====================

Elma:

(A) Have you got the Appendix to the book?

Faulkner added a fifth attempt to tell Caddy Compson's story
in 1945, when he wrote an "Appendix" to the novel to be included in
The Portable Faulkner then being assembled for Viking Press by Malcolm
Cowley. "I should have done this when I wrote the book," Faulkner told
Cowley. "Then the whole thing would have fallen into pattern like a
jigsaw puzzle when the magician's wand touched it." In the Appendix,
titled "Compson 1699-1945" (to resemble an obituary), Faulkner offers
some additional glimpses into Compson family lore, both from the
clan's aristocratic past and in the years following the dates in the
novel.

++ LATER printings of ths Sound and the FURY include the Appendix ++


(B) Also please note that a number of the characters / incidents
are cross referenced in other works of Faulkner.

(C) From the Faulkner Glossary:

Compson, Jason Lycurgus, IV: (1894- ) Third oldest child born to
Jason Richmond Lycurgus Compson III and Caroline Bascomb Compson, and
brother to Quentin, Caddy, and Benjy. He narrates the third section of
The Sound and the Fury. A confirmed sadist, Jason Compson reveled in
his cruelty to others, including his mother, their black servant
Dilsey and her grandson Luster, and his niece Quentin, who in 1928
stole $7,000 from him, about half of which legally belonged to her in
the first place, as it was sent to her by her mother, Caddy.

A childless bachelor, Jason thus represented the end of the Compson
dynasty, since his older brother, Quentin, committed suicide in 1910
and his younger brother, Benjy, was castrated. (1910)

*** In 1933, following the death of his mother, he committed Benjy to
the state asylum and sold the Old Compson Place to a man wishing to
open a boarding-house.

In 1943, the property changed hands again when Flem Snopes bought it,
a transaction which Jason regretted enough to try to prevent it
legally.

NOTE: In addition to The Sound and the Fury, Jason appears in:
The Town (Part 2 Snopes trilogy),
The Mansion (Part 3 Snopes trilogy),
"A Justice," and
"That Evening Sun."


(D) Benjy and the asylum......

1910 -- just before Caddy's Wedding - Caddy asks Quentin what he is
doing and warns him not to get involved in her life again. She begs
him to look after Benjy and make sure that they don't send him to an
asylum. Quentin promises to do so. Quentin dies 1910.

1911 -- Benjy attacks a girl outside the gate and is castrated:
Benjy is sixteen years old.

Benjy is standing at the gate crying, and the schoolgirls come by.
They tell each other that he just runs along the inside of the fence
and can't catch them. He unlatches the gate and chases them, trying to
talk to them. They scream and run away. He catches one girl and tries
to talk to her, perhaps tries to rape her.

Later, father talks about how angry Mr. Burgess (her father) is, and
wants to know how Benjy got outside the gate. Jason says that he bets
father will have to send Benjy to the asylum in Jackson now, and
father tells him to hush. [He is not sent there, but is castrated]

April 7, 1928 -- Benjy is 33.
After Benjy burns his hand on the stove in the kitchen, Luster takes
Benjy to the library, where his cries disturb Jason, who comes to the
door and yells at Luster. Luster asks Jason for a quarter. (He lost
his first quarter). I believe it was to go to the circus.

At dinner, Jason interrogates Quentin about the (circus) man she was
with that afternoon and threatens to send Benjy to an asylum in
Jackson.

1933 - Benjy is 38. Following the death of his mother, Jason
committed Benjy to the state asylum.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Now to bring this thread back on topic......

Faulkner
http://www.accd.edu/sac/english/mcqu...fils/wfalk.jpg

The US Faulkner Stamp

As most folks here know, the United States Postal Service issued
a first-class 22-cent stamp commemorating Faulkner in 1987 —
http://www.accd.edu/sac/english/mcqu...s/faulkner.jpg

However, this was an ironic honor, considering Faulkner's notorious
stint as a postmaster.

The Card-Playing Postmaster

Faulkner's most notorious stint as a working man was his role of
postmaster at the University of Mississippi post office, which
incredibly he held for nearly three years. By all accounts, he was
a terrible postmaster — he would ignore patrons calling at the window,
he delayed taking outgoing mail to the train station, and on occasion
he even threw away mail. He spent much of his time in the post office
writing, and other times he would play bridge and mah-jongg with
friends whom he'd appointed as part-time clerks. When a postal
inspector came to investigate, Faulkner agreed to resign. Later,
Faulkner said about his experience: "I reckon I'll be at the beck and
call of folks with money all my life, but thank God I won't ever again
have to be at the beck and call of every son of a bitch who's got two
cents to buy a stamp."

At the same time Faulkner was working as postmaster, he also
volunteered as a scoutmaster for the Oxford Boy Scout troop —
but he was relieved of his duties because of his drinking.

The stamp's first-day cancellation was held in Oxford, Mississippi,
Faulkner's hometown, on August 3, 1987.
http://www.mcsr.olemiss.edu/~egjbp/f...s/wfstampd.gif


Blair

Beautiful! I'm so glad I asked.You have added a great deal to my initial
reading experience. Again,thanks. Elma
"Blair (TC)" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 10 Jun 2004 21:14:30 -0700, "Elma Steinmayer"
wrote:

Blair: Thank you. You were very helpful. One puzzle-- where did you find
that Benjy was confined by Jason at the end?? Elma

================================================== ====================

Elma:

(A) Have you got the Appendix to the book?

Faulkner added a fifth attempt to tell Caddy Compson's story
in 1945, when he wrote an "Appendix" to the novel to be included in
The Portable Faulkner then being assembled for Viking Press by Malcolm
Cowley. "I should have done this when I wrote the book," Faulkner told
Cowley. "Then the whole thing would have fallen into pattern like a
jigsaw puzzle when the magician's wand touched it." In the Appendix,
titled "Compson 1699-1945" (to resemble an obituary), Faulkner offers
some additional glimpses into Compson family lore, both from the
clan's aristocratic past and in the years following the dates in the
novel.

++ LATER printings of ths Sound and the FURY include the Appendix ++


(B) Also please note that a number of the characters / incidents
are cross referenced in other works of Faulkner.

(C) From the Faulkner Glossary:

Compson, Jason Lycurgus, IV: (1894- ) Third oldest child born to
Jason Richmond Lycurgus Compson III and Caroline Bascomb Compson, and
brother to Quentin, Caddy, and Benjy. He narrates the third section of
The Sound and the Fury. A confirmed sadist, Jason Compson reveled in
his cruelty to others, including his mother, their black servant
Dilsey and her grandson Luster, and his niece Quentin, who in 1928
stole $7,000 from him, about half of which legally belonged to her in
the first place, as it was sent to her by her mother, Caddy.

A childless bachelor, Jason thus represented the end of the Compson
dynasty, since his older brother, Quentin, committed suicide in 1910
and his younger brother, Benjy, was castrated. (1910)

*** In 1933, following the death of his mother, he committed Benjy to
the state asylum and sold the Old Compson Place to a man wishing to
open a boarding-house.

In 1943, the property changed hands again when Flem Snopes bought it,
a transaction which Jason regretted enough to try to prevent it
legally.

NOTE: In addition to The Sound and the Fury, Jason appears in:
The Town (Part 2 Snopes trilogy),
The Mansion (Part 3 Snopes trilogy),
"A Justice," and
"That Evening Sun."


(D) Benjy and the asylum......

1910 -- just before Caddy's Wedding - Caddy asks Quentin what he is
doing and warns him not to get involved in her life again. She begs
him to look after Benjy and make sure that they don't send him to an
asylum. Quentin promises to do so. Quentin dies 1910.

1911 -- Benjy attacks a girl outside the gate and is castrated:
Benjy is sixteen years old.

Benjy is standing at the gate crying, and the schoolgirls come by.
They tell each other that he just runs along the inside of the fence
and can't catch them. He unlatches the gate and chases them, trying to
talk to them. They scream and run away. He catches one girl and tries
to talk to her, perhaps tries to rape her.

Later, father talks about how angry Mr. Burgess (her father) is, and
wants to know how Benjy got outside the gate. Jason says that he bets
father will have to send Benjy to the asylum in Jackson now, and
father tells him to hush. [He is not sent there, but is castrated]

April 7, 1928 -- Benjy is 33.
After Benjy burns his hand on the stove in the kitchen, Luster takes
Benjy to the library, where his cries disturb Jason, who comes to the
door and yells at Luster. Luster asks Jason for a quarter. (He lost
his first quarter). I believe it was to go to the circus.

At dinner, Jason interrogates Quentin about the (circus) man she was
with that afternoon and threatens to send Benjy to an asylum in
Jackson.

1933 - Benjy is 38. Following the death of his mother, Jason
committed Benjy to the state asylum.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Now to bring this thread back on topic......

Faulkner
http://www.accd.edu/sac/english/mcqu...fils/wfalk.jpg

The US Faulkner Stamp

As most folks here know, the United States Postal Service issued
a first-class 22-cent stamp commemorating Faulkner in 1987 -
http://www.accd.edu/sac/english/mcqu...s/faulkner.jpg

However, this was an ironic honor, considering Faulkner's notorious
stint as a postmaster.

The Card-Playing Postmaster

Faulkner's most notorious stint as a working man was his role of
postmaster at the University of Mississippi post office, which
incredibly he held for nearly three years. By all accounts, he was
a terrible postmaster - he would ignore patrons calling at the window,
he delayed taking outgoing mail to the train station, and on occasion
he even threw away mail. He spent much of his time in the post office
writing, and other times he would play bridge and mah-jongg with
friends whom he'd appointed as part-time clerks. When a postal
inspector came to investigate, Faulkner agreed to resign. Later,
Faulkner said about his experience: "I reckon I'll be at the beck and
call of folks with money all my life, but thank God I won't ever again
have to be at the beck and call of every son of a bitch who's got two
cents to buy a stamp."

At the same time Faulkner was working as postmaster, he also
volunteered as a scoutmaster for the Oxford Boy Scout troop -
but he was relieved of his duties because of his drinking.

The stamp's first-day cancellation was held in Oxford, Mississippi,
Faulkner's hometown, on August 3, 1987.
http://www.mcsr.olemiss.edu/~egjbp/f...s/wfstampd.gif


Blair

Elma:

Glad to be of assistance.
What kind of stamps do you collect?

Blair

================================================== ======================

On Fri, 11 Jun 2004 23:49:25 -0700, "Elma Steinmayer"
wrote:

Beautiful! I'm so glad I asked.You have added a great deal to my initial
reading experience. Again,thanks. Elma


"Blair (TC)" wrote in message
.. .

(big snip)

Now to bring this thread back on topic......

Faulkner
http://www.accd.edu/sac/english/mcqu...fils/wfalk.jpg

The US Faulkner Stamp

As most folks here know, the United States Postal Service issued
a first-class 22-cent stamp commemorating Faulkner in 1987 -
http://www.accd.edu/sac/english/mcqu...s/faulkner.jpg

However, this was an ironic honor, considering Faulkner's notorious
stint as a postmaster.

The Card-Playing Postmaster

Faulkner's most notorious stint as a working man was his role of
postmaster at the University of Mississippi post office, which
incredibly he held for nearly three years. By all accounts, he was
a terrible postmaster - he would ignore patrons calling at the window,
he delayed taking outgoing mail to the train station, and on occasion
he even threw away mail. He spent much of his time in the post office
writing, and other times he would play bridge and mah-jongg with
friends whom he'd appointed as part-time clerks. When a postal
inspector came to investigate, Faulkner agreed to resign. Later,
Faulkner said about his experience: "I reckon I'll be at the beck and
call of folks with money all my life, but thank God I won't ever again
have to be at the beck and call of every son of a bitch who's got two
cents to buy a stamp."

At the same time Faulkner was working as postmaster, he also
volunteered as a scoutmaster for the Oxford Boy Scout troop -
but he was relieved of his duties because of his drinking.

The stamp's first-day cancellation was held in Oxford, Mississippi,
Faulkner's hometown, on August 3, 1987.
http://www.mcsr.olemiss.edu/~egjbp/f...s/wfstampd.gif


Blair

Blair: Worldwide 1930 Scott listed issues unused.
"Blair (TC)" wrote in message
...

Elma:

Glad to be of assistance.
What kind of stamps do you collect?

Blair

================================================== ======================

On Fri, 11 Jun 2004 23:49:25 -0700, "Elma Steinmayer"
wrote:

Beautiful! I'm so glad I asked.You have added a great deal to my initial
reading experience. Again,thanks. Elma


"Blair (TC)" wrote in message
.. .

(big snip)

Now to bring this thread back on topic......

Faulkner
http://www.accd.edu/sac/english/mcqu...fils/wfalk.jpg

The US Faulkner Stamp

As most folks here know, the United States Postal Service issued
a first-class 22-cent stamp commemorating Faulkner in 1987 -
http://www.accd.edu/sac/english/mcqu...s/faulkner.jpg

However, this was an ironic honor, considering Faulkner's notorious
stint as a postmaster.

The Card-Playing Postmaster

Faulkner's most notorious stint as a working man was his role of
postmaster at the University of Mississippi post office, which
incredibly he held for nearly three years. By all accounts, he was
a terrible postmaster - he would ignore patrons calling at the window,
he delayed taking outgoing mail to the train station, and on occasion
he even threw away mail. He spent much of his time in the post office
writing, and other times he would play bridge and mah-jongg with
friends whom he'd appointed as part-time clerks. When a postal
inspector came to investigate, Faulkner agreed to resign. Later,
Faulkner said about his experience: "I reckon I'll be at the beck and
call of folks with money all my life, but thank God I won't ever again
have to be at the beck and call of every son of a bitch who's got two
cents to buy a stamp."

At the same time Faulkner was working as postmaster, he also
volunteered as a scoutmaster for the Oxford Boy Scout troop -
but he was relieved of his duties because of his drinking.

The stamp's first-day cancellation was held in Oxford, Mississippi,
Faulkner's hometown, on August 3, 1987.
http://www.mcsr.olemiss.edu/~egjbp/f...s/wfstampd.gif


Blair