Benjy's Chapter, April 17th, 1928

To say the least, the first chapter in The Sound and the Fury is not exactly an easy read. The language is simple, due to the narrator of the chapter (Benjy, a.k.a. Benjamin) being mentally challenged, but the shifts in time and the strong sensory images make it difficult to understand what is going on. 

I believe that Faulkner made the time shifts difficult was to show that the point he is trying to make with this book is timeless. His work reminds me of Thornton Wilder's works, like The Long Christmas Dinner. The time periods almost blend together. One thing that these two texts have in common is that the new generations of servants do not make much of a difference in the text, other than being flags for a time change. The only exception to this is Dilsey, who is the head of the servants and the only servant who does not make fun of Benjy. 

In the Compson household, Benjy is considered to be a burden. His mother often complains about having headaches and being "sick"; the supposed cause for this is Benjy's mental state. His brothers make fun of him and are not very patient with him when he has tantrums. His father does seem to care about him a bit (he was the one who first gave him the nickname Benjy), but he still sees him as a burden. His sister Caddy (or Candace) is the only one who really cared for him; she would defend him when they were young.

The date of Benjy's chapter was purposely one day before Easter. This, coupled with Benjy's age (33) coincides with the Faulkner telling us that he and Jesus are similar. 

Benjy is the fool in the Compson family. This is not a bad thing though, just like the Fool in Shakespeare's King Lear, he knows more than what others think he does. He is aware of what is going on, however he does not know how to express what he sees, nor does he know whether the things he sees are good or bad (he is too innocent).

Through Benjy, we learn how shallow not only his family is, but also how society views those who are mentally handicapped. They see him as inferior to themselves and this is the reason why they do not treat him with basic human rights (except Caddy).

No one in the family really notice the small details (or objects). Although Benjy is not the most brilliant one, he notices the details and objects and has an amazing ability to recall all these things. These recurring details and objects give Benjy comfort.

Benjy is the only truly innocent character in the book, no one else is innocent, not even Caddy.

William Faulkner

• Was born William Cuthbert Falkner [he later changed it to Faulkner to make himself seem British in order to join the Royal Air Force (RAF)]. He was born on September 25, 1897 in New Albany, Mississippi to Murry and Maud Falkner. 
• When he was about five years old, his family moved to Oxford, Mississippi. At a young age, he showed talent in drawing and poetry writing. In the sixth grade he became bored with his studies. His early literary works were romantic and were modeled after English poets like Burns, Thomson, Housman, and Swinburne. 
• He had tried to join the United States Air Force, but he was considered to be too short (he stood at five feet and six inches). After this, he tried to join the RAF by making himself seem British (even donning a British accent). Finally, he became joined the air force in Canada.
• His first published poem was "L'Apres-Midi d'un Faune" in The New Republic in August 1919. In 1924, his friend, Phil Stone, helped him get a volume of his poetry, The Marble Faun,by the Four Seas Company. By December 1924, it had sold 1,000 copies. In January 1925, he moved to New Orleans. He published a couple essays in The Double Dealer and in New Orleans Times-Picayune. 
• His first novel was Soldier's Pay (published by Liveright), which sold 2,500 copies. His second novel, Mosquitoes, was a satirical novel that was based on his literary social environment. Another novel of his was Flags in the Dust, which his old published (Liveright) refused to publish it and it was difficult to find another publisher, but he eventually did. 
• His inspiration for the title The Sound and the Fury, came from a soliloquy in William Shakespeare's Macbeth. It was published in October 1929
• Faulkner even wrote a couple of screenplays: Today We Live, Sanctuary, and The Story of Temple Drake. 
• In 1955, he won the Pulitzer Prize for A Fable. He was also awarded the 1949 Nobel Prize in Literature.
• He died on July 6, 1962 of a heart attack. However, he won another Pulitzer Prize in 1963 for The Reivers.