Kloverfield Log: February 23, 2011
Regarding the book, The Sound and The Fury, pages 360-401
At last, the last of the book.
Immediate response: "That's it?"
What really happened at the end: Quentin steals Jason's money, which was really money kind of stolen from Quentin to begin with. Quentin runs away. Jason is pissed and runs around after Quentin, trying to find her. After getting as far as he can, he returns to Jefferson, the fictional town in Mississippi that Faulkner places many of his works, in Yoknapatawa county...don't quote me on that. Then it ends with Luster taking Benjamin home in a carriage at a failed attempt to go for a Sunday ride.
I was not impressed. Sorry Faulkner. I would much rather read your creepy stories than your downfall stories. I like plot twists and intrigue. This novel was fairly straight forward once the flashbacks were understood.
My fuss over this novel seems to be out of proportion with the ending. Yes, it was confusing, but it ended ... well, Jason was pissed off as all else...but there wasn't any real definite ending really it seemed. Through out the entire novel, I was looking for what was going on, for puzzle pieces to the truth, and then I felt let down that the entire story was about the downfall of this family. How can I see the downfall if I never see how high up they were? If I never saw the contrast?
The plot was rather simple to define, only a few acts, but piecing everything together was a little tricky, up until Jason's narrative. That's when everything fell into place. I was waiting for a twist, something dramatic, something more than something that could be seen in the garden variety soap opera. I guess I really just set my expectations too high and too...mystery...I was expecting a story akin to A Rose for Emily. I've seen similarities, sin, redemption, reactions to society, reactions of society, Southern society specifically. I was also expecting him to sum up the story a little, bring out what his themes were more. They were a fallen family yes, but the fall seemed to be inevitable with the characters and how they were portrayed. I shouldn't have mentioned redemption. I don't see how they could be redeemed, at least not until this generation dies out.
I guess I was really just surface reading. I'm not really intrigued to read this book again though. This story can be seen in nearly any home...anywhere.
Hey! Universal Themes! I'm scoffing at it's commonness but that is what has made it readable for so many years.
I.Point of View
A.told by different narrators
i.Caddy and family name connects the narrators
ii.different opinions
a.see different things
b. objectivity vs. subjectivity, not everyone sees things the same and will not focus on the same things.
iii. varying impressions based on each narrator's experience.
a. Benjy relates everything through memories
b. Quentin relates most of the action through theories
c. Jason says things how they are, or rather as he sees them, and how what he sees is not how it should be.
iv.nobody thinks the same really
a. some people do think based on their memories
1.think through impressions, what you see hear smell feel, you think through your senses
b. people do not think with correct punctuation or capitalization
II. Messed Up Dramatic Family
A. there is not one family ever that has a perfect name.
i. if they do they are covering something up
ii. every family have those members who go off and do their own thing, whether good or bad.
a. like Caddy, who seemed to be perfectly fine until she went off and did stuff
1.I would really like to see the Compson family before the downfall so that I had something to compare them too. Benjy's perception of Caddy is innocent, while as the novel continues on, her brothers tell of how she has done things and with each brother the severity of it seems to increase.
b. like Quentin who drowned himself
c. like the mother who is a hypochondriac
d. like the father who dies from alcoholism
B. any person can relate to this story because there are people in it who do remind them of people in their own lives.
I don't even know why I did that. I put no preemptive thought into that organizational list. I'm going to go onto something else now before I act even more like an overly smart person. I'm starting to scare myself.(it's true. last night i was watching a movie and identified parallelism. I've had too much English.)
It such an awful feeling when you get to the end of the book and realize it was not what you expected. It is great if the ending was great than your expectations, but when it falls short you feel like you were cheated! Sorry you were disappointed with the ending. I really like your organization of the novel. Even though it was a let down in the end, I can tell you learned something from your reading. :)
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