The Sound and the Fury was published in 1929 and its main setting is April, 1928 in Mississippi (only eight months before the big stock market crash of 1928, which lead to the Great Depression). Three out of its four chapters are written in the stream of consciousness style, and each of those three chapters is told by a different Compson boy. The Compson family slowly decays throughout the book and by the end of it has completely fallen apart. The family members are as follows:
Jason Compson III: The father of the Compson children. He seems to favor Caddy and Quentin over Jason, perhaps that's because Caroline favors Jason because he shows less Compson characteristics than Caddy and Quentin. Jason III becomes an alcoholic and dies before the end of the book.
Caroline Compson: Originally a Bascomb until she married Jason III and became part of the Compson family. Caroline is the mother of all of the Compson children, but favors Jason over the others. She is a Hypochondriac of sorts (meaning she fears illness and constantly believes she is sick.) and it seems she has never been a great mother to the children, who seem to be raised mainly by the servants. Caroline tends to be bitter towards everyone and everything.
Quentin Compson: The oldest son in the family. Quentin adores his sister, Caddy, and would do anything to make it so she doesn't have to deal with the consequences of her actions. The Compsons sell their pasture so Quentin can go to Harvard. When Caddy gets married because she becomes pregnant out of wedlock, Quentin is devastated and gets in a fight with the father of Caddy's child, but ends up losing. At Harvard, Quentin becomes depressed and one day while wondering around town, he comes across a little girl who is lost. He spends the rest of his day trying to find her home and calls her "sister", perhaps he feels sorry for the girl and is reminded of Caddy. After finding her home and fighting with one of his friends when he makes a sexist comment, Quentin jumps off of a bridge and commits suicide.
Caddy Compson: The next eldest Compson child. Caddy is the only daughter and loves all of her brothers except Jason, who never seemed to like her. She is like a mother to Benjy and dotes on him whenever she can. She wants to do everything the boys do and can be very stubborn. Caddy becomes pregnant out of wedlock and decides to marry another man to save her family from the social stigma. Unfortunately, her husband finds out the child is not his and divorces her. Unable to take care of her daughter (whom she named "Quentin" after her brother), she is forced to give her to the remaining Compsons who are disgraced by her.
Jason Compson IV: The third child in the family. Though his mother loved him, Jason has always resented women. He's cold cruel, his only love is money and power over others. Jason never really liked Caddy, but when her husband divorces her, destroying his chance at going into the husband's banking business, he begins to loath her. Quentin got to go to Harvard instead of him and he despises Quentin for throwing all the money away and not only wasting his chance to succeed in life, but wasting Jason's. Jason now works at a store in town, but hates his job and the people he works with. Instead of giving the money Caddy sends to Miss Quentin, he keeps it and hoards it in his bedroom. He is always arguing with Miss Quentin who acts much too like her mother for his taste.
Benjy Compson: The last of the Compson children. Benjy was originally named Maury after his uncle, but when the Compsons find out that he is mentally retarded, they rename him Benjamin upon his mother's request. Benjy has three passions, fire, Caddy and the golf course that used to be the pasture that he would play in. He likes the golf course because he hears the golfers calling for their golf caddies. Caddy is the only person who truly loves him and he adores her.
Miss Quentin: Caddy's illegitimate child. Miss Quentin is a lot like her mother, she's wild and stubborn. Also like her mother, she is promiscuous. At the end of the book, Quentin runs away with a man from the carnival and takes all of the money that her mother had sent her over the years from Jason's room when he was at work.
Dilsey: The black, head servant of the Compsons. She sees the family progress from beginning to the very end and pretty much raises the children. Her three children and grandson all are servants as well and have all been caretakers of Benjy.
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