434 Faulkner, William
“endin,” she indicates, in part, that love, including the
love she bears for her family as well as the Compsons,
cannot keep things from growing worse.
Love is a word rarely mentioned in Faulkner’s
novel, perhaps because, like Caddy, it is often absent.
Dilsey seems to be one of the few characters in the
novel who knows how to give compassion and love.
But eventually she will die, and mainly people like
Jason, who are selfish and self-serving, will remain to
carry on in a modern world that seems emptied of
people who truly care for others.
Elizabeth Cornell
tradition in The Sound and the Fury
In William Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury, the
Compsons have embodied genteel southern tradi-
tions since before the American Civil War. Yet these
traditions are eroding in the early 20th century,
and Quentin Compson is particularly sensitive to
this. Like many southern families, the Compsons
follow the tradition of sending their eldest son
north to Harvard University. His mother’s proud
words, “Harvard my Harvard boy Harvard,” echo in
Quentin’s head, but he knows he will never feel like
one of the “old sons of Harvard.” In part because he
understands that Harvard’s reputation for cultivat-
ing moral young men is nearly a thing of the past.
For example, Quentin knows that Herbert Head,
who marries Caddy, cheated on examinations while
at Harvard. Quentin is also invested in the tradi-
tional male role of defending female honor. When
he encounters a lost little girl, Maria, during his
ramble in Boston, he feels responsible for helping
her find the way home. They eventually stumble
upon her brother, but the man assumes Quentin
means to harm Maria, so he punches Quentin in the
face. This scene reinforces Quentin’s larger failure in
chivalry to defend the honor of his sister. He loves
Caddy so much, he cannot stand to think of her
being with any man. Quentin’s love, however, can-
not prevent her from shirking the tradition that she
save her virginity until marriage. Nor can he prevent
her out-of-wedlock pregnancy, which threatens her
family’s respected reputation as well as her own.
Quentin commits suicide partly because he knows
the standards for the traditions he values can no
longer be upheld.
Jason, Quentin’s brother, has a conflicted rela-
tionship with tradition. As the eldest male Comp-
son, Jason feels entitled to the traditional role of
household head but shows little sympathy for his
family. He is offended by the tradition-bucking
behavior of his niece and resents having to be
responsible for her and his “slobbering” retarded
brother. Money, not family, seems most important
to Jason. He adheres to the New South’s mentality
that money “just belongs to the man that can get it
and keep it.” Yet Jason’s embrace of the New South’s
values over traditional ones is his downfall. He no
longer owns part of the hardware store where he
works, and he gambles on cotton futures rather than
following the tradition of saving or reinvesting in
his business. Having spurned the traditional sup-
port network of family, Jason is impoverished both
socially and financially.
Also possessing a strong sense of dying tradi-
tions is Luster, the young black man who takes
care of Benjy. Southern society was traditionally
composed of a patriarchal ruling class and a class
of people who were ruled, such as slaves and later
servants. Luster’s grandfather, Roskus, was a servant
(and possibly born a slave) for his entire life. Unlike
his grandfather, Luster appears to have no interest
in continuing his family’s tradition of servitude. He
desires his independence, and knows he can achieve
this with money, which traditionally was rarely avail-
able to blacks. His ardent quest for his lost quarter
represents an obsession with money that seems
equaled only by Jason’s. Luster’s attempt to sell golf
balls back to golfers suggests the industriousness
he will need to move ahead in society and leave the
old servant tradition behind. The “stiff new straw
hat” Luster wears to church indicates his upwardly
mobile aspirations in a world where old traditions
no longer apply.
The novel’s structure and style must also be
considered in this discussion of tradition. The book’s
fractured plot and frequent time shifts, which make
it difficult to understand during initial readings,
distinguish the novel as modernist. Faulkner’s nar-
rative style represents a break with the traditional
novel form: There is little linear story progression
or even a clear beginning and ending. The novel is
not told by a traditional, omniscient narrator or from