The Sound and the Fury (Masterplots, Revised Second Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: William Faulkner
- First Published: 1929
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Stream of consciousness
- Time of Work: 1900-1928
- Setting: Mississippi
- Principal Characters: Mr. Jason Compson, Mrs. Caroline Compson, Candace (“Caddy”), Quentin, Benjamin (“Benjy”), Jason, Quentin, Dilsey, Luster
- Genres: Long fiction, Psychological fiction
- Subjects: Family or family life, Sex or sexuality, Suicide, South or Southerners, Brothers and sisters, 1910’s, 1920’s, Incest, Mississippi, Moral conditions, Illegitimacy, Small-town life, Tragedy, Mental retardation
- Locales: Cambridge, MA, Yoknapatawpha County (fictive)
The Story:
The Compsons, a once-prominent Mississippi family, were in decline. Their sprawling plantation had been sold and turned into a golf course, and their once-splendid mansion was badly dilapidated. At the head of the family were Mr. Jason Compson, a retired lawyer taken to drink, and his wife, Caroline, a hypochondriac who spent most of her day in bed.
Benjamin, the Compsons’ youngest child, a mentally retarded man, began to tell the story of his life. On April 7, 1928, his thirty-third birthday, while he walked along the golf course with Luster, his caretaker,...
[The entire page is 2139 words long]
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