Benjy begins the novel by recounting the events of Saturday, April 7, 1928, which is his birthday. He lacks an understanding of cause and effect. In Benjy's mind, scene shifts occur from various past moments whenever current experiences trigger his memories. For example, when Luster, Benjy's black caretaker, helps him off a fence in the present, Benjy remembers a time over twenty years ago when Caddy did the same. Another instance is when Benjy follows Luster to a small stream where children are playing; this scene reminds him of a day thirty years earlier when he was at the stream with his siblings, the day their grandmother passed away. Benjy's narrative includes nearly a hundred of these memory shifts, marked by a change in typeface, averaging more than one per page. These interwoven story fragments introduce themes that help readers understand Benjy, his family, and their circumstances. William Faulkner often juxtaposes no more than three or four stories in Benjy's narrative to develop a theme. With few exceptions, these fragmented narratives maintain chronological order, even though they are mixed with stories from different times. To explore thematic development, these fragmented stories must first be briefly outlined.