As a reader trudges through the novel, The Sound and the Fury, she must make assumptions or formulate her own theories about the history of the characters. I myself, along with a few of my classmates have a few theories that involve the central character, Caddy, in conjunction with Quentin, the girl, and her marriage. These theories are nothing more than postulates about the novel, but they are scenarios that have intrigued me as details have been added to my understanding of the history of the characters in the novel.
My theorizing began when the female Quentin became a larger part of the story, as she was seen with her boyfriend in the yard by Benjy, which raises many questions about the origin of this young girl. Due to her repulsion from Benjy, I could assume that she was not one of Benjy’s siblings. As I realized that Caddy was no longer in the picture, had been married, and now lived far from the home of Benjy and her family, I started to believe that Quentin was her own child. As we read it seems that our knowledge of Caddy grows. We soon realize that Caddy was experimenting with boys and her body at seventeen years old, and that this made her ashamed to confront Benjy. In the second section of the story, as told by the male Quentin, he notes that she was sick and could not inform anyone. This is where I believe she was pregnant with Quentin, and therefore was going to have an illegitimate child. In the South, and in the timeframe of this novel, illegitimate children were looked down upon, and this would have scared Caddy into rushing into a marriage in order to keep the child from being illegitimate. This theory is one that seems to be collecting evidence as I read further in the novel.
Another reoccurring theme in the novel is the theme of incest, which has many potential outcomes for the family and for Caddy. Caddy’s older brother, Quentin, tells his father that he has committed incest, which sparks concern for the reader. While reading I have come to theorize that Quentin loves his sister very much, as all of the children in the family did, and realized that she was pregnant with an illegitimate child when she confessed to being sick. I think that he lied to his father about the incest in order to protect his sister and her illegitimate child. If he had truly committed incest then the family would be able to cover the illegitimate child as their own because there would be no outside father that needed to be dealt with. This theory is supported by the fact that Quentin lives with the family after Caddy is off married. It seems as though Caddy had the child, claimed it as a product of incest with her brother, and moved on to a new life. This would explain the appearance of the child, Caddy’s abandoning of everything associated with her family, and the family’s hesitation to talk of their daughter after she is gone. This theory, as well, seems to be getting the most support out of the other theories of the family incest as I read further in the novel.
The openness of this novel leaves many occurrences in the family to the imagination. Many theories have been concocted by the readers in the class, and some might be proven true by the end of the novel. Though none of these theories is positively the truth, maybe more evidence will be shown to sway my opinion or to prove4 my theories real (606).
Friday, October 26, 2007
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Indesputable Failure
The short story, Shiloh, was intriguing to me because of the concept of marriage and failed relationships. As I read along in the story, I began to almost hope for that Shiloh would cure the marriage because it seems as though the two characters might have a deeper connection that they had forgotten. The ending of the story did not catch me by surprise, but I had hoped for the save marriage so it disheartened me.
As the story progresses, the characters become farther and farther apart from each other to the point that their relationship is destroyed. Once Leroy is finally able to be at home for his wife and to not go out onto the road on a usual basis, Norma Jean tries to get out of the house and keep their relationship distant as she is used to it being. It is as if their relationship had only held together because the two of them lived separate lives and didn’t have to deal with each other on a regular basis. In this way, both of them could be cordial and intrigued by each other because they did not know each other well enough any more to have a true relationship or to argue. As Leroy makes many attempts to get to know his wife better and to progress in their new relationship, the reader begins to feel the fruitlessness of his efforts and almost pities his position. It seems as though Norma Jean does not even want to make an effort to renew their relationship or to make it last with the ownership of the house. She does not want to make the relationship permanent because living with her husband and seeing him on a regular basis makes her realize that she has not lived life because she married so young. As the reader cannot see the thoughts of Norma Jean as we can see the thoughts of Leroy, we get a skewed idea of the patterns of the relationship. It seems as if Leroy is the caring and thoughtful one in the relationship and that he is only trying to make life better for his wife. Once Mabel convinces the couple to go to Shiloh to make their relationship better, the reader sees that there is to be a turning point in the relationship. I, however, believed this turning point would be for the better because of the scene of them both laughing at their own stupidities. From here is seems as though the couple has gotten past their dislikes of each other and are headed to make things work. But Norma Jean’s plans had never changes and the couple was doomed to fail. Norma Jean’s touchiness to the subject of her life at 18 shows that this failure was a long time coming and that, had the two not conceived a son, The relationship never would have been finalized. Because the two have nothing to keep them together, Norma Jean finally ends a relationship that was never meant to be.
This is a story of relationships and discontentedness with life in general. The couple was obviously never completely functional after the death of their son, and because of the work of Leroy. The trigger that set off the complete separation of the married coupe was that Leroy’s accident forced the two to deal with each other on a regular basis which only showed how incompatible and forced the relationship was (575).
As the story progresses, the characters become farther and farther apart from each other to the point that their relationship is destroyed. Once Leroy is finally able to be at home for his wife and to not go out onto the road on a usual basis, Norma Jean tries to get out of the house and keep their relationship distant as she is used to it being. It is as if their relationship had only held together because the two of them lived separate lives and didn’t have to deal with each other on a regular basis. In this way, both of them could be cordial and intrigued by each other because they did not know each other well enough any more to have a true relationship or to argue. As Leroy makes many attempts to get to know his wife better and to progress in their new relationship, the reader begins to feel the fruitlessness of his efforts and almost pities his position. It seems as though Norma Jean does not even want to make an effort to renew their relationship or to make it last with the ownership of the house. She does not want to make the relationship permanent because living with her husband and seeing him on a regular basis makes her realize that she has not lived life because she married so young. As the reader cannot see the thoughts of Norma Jean as we can see the thoughts of Leroy, we get a skewed idea of the patterns of the relationship. It seems as if Leroy is the caring and thoughtful one in the relationship and that he is only trying to make life better for his wife. Once Mabel convinces the couple to go to Shiloh to make their relationship better, the reader sees that there is to be a turning point in the relationship. I, however, believed this turning point would be for the better because of the scene of them both laughing at their own stupidities. From here is seems as though the couple has gotten past their dislikes of each other and are headed to make things work. But Norma Jean’s plans had never changes and the couple was doomed to fail. Norma Jean’s touchiness to the subject of her life at 18 shows that this failure was a long time coming and that, had the two not conceived a son, The relationship never would have been finalized. Because the two have nothing to keep them together, Norma Jean finally ends a relationship that was never meant to be.
This is a story of relationships and discontentedness with life in general. The couple was obviously never completely functional after the death of their son, and because of the work of Leroy. The trigger that set off the complete separation of the married coupe was that Leroy’s accident forced the two to deal with each other on a regular basis which only showed how incompatible and forced the relationship was (575).
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