I like books I always have. I like math I always have. Books usually follow some sort of equation and are in a logical order even if it is not always chronological; these things please my mathematical mind. The Sound and the Fury is about as far away from these two things you can get and still call it a novel. I understand why the novel is a classic and can appreciate it as a piece of literature I just can’t enjoy it as I wish I could.

While reading the Benjy section I was able to accept to a great extent Faulkner’s chaotic style as it made sense do to the mental capabilities of the narrator. What made me lose interest was how he continued such a disjointed style into the section narrated by a highly capable person, as even if Quentin is lacking in sanity I do not find it believable that his thoughts would be even more confusing than those of Benjy. By the time the Quentin section started I was tired. What keeps me going isn’t that it’s our assignment; instead it is because, even with my struggles in reading, I find the themes and characters to be intriguing.

Of the characters we have met so far I find Benjy to be the most interesting by far. He is the perfect tool for showing the inside thoughts of any person, as with his disabilities his thoughts are all turned into actions. In times when any regular person would hold back even their strongest of emotions, in Benjy we see what everyone would like to be doing and probably should be doing in many cases. He is also in my opinion the least flawed of all the main characters we have met. Sure he has issues that come with his disability, but other than being annoying at times he does not have a negative affect on the family nearly as much as most of the others. The only other characters that I actually like much at all are the servants. Even with all the troubles of the Compson family they carry on happy lives, while trying to help the Compsons along the way. While their roles might not be too complicated, they are still very important especially to the care of Benjy. The rest of the Compson family I find to be somewhat dull. They all have issues, but in present-day all of their issues are pretty common so don’t do anything new for me.

So I guess I have enjoyed the novel to some extent, but what frustrates me is that I could not have done so on my own. I would have given up and I’m guessing many people have, including much of Oprah’s book club. I need just about everyday to have someone (Mr. Coon) explain most of what I have read. This I guess makes the novel great for the classroom and scholarly discussion, but leaves the casual reader out. I have to believe that this is done on purpose by the author, who was targeting the critics and upper class that were able to take the time to understand the novel through deep thought without the help of Wikipedia. To fully understand this book on my own I would probably have to sacrifice much of my life and become an English-major. There would be mental damage done and I don’t think I would be a happy person. Instead I will just accept that I need help to even partially understand the style and story Faulkner wrote with a target audience that is not Eric. . (604)

“Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”
Connie is not very likeable, but what fifteen-year-old is. She is conceited, judgmental, and incredibly rude. There is very little she likes about her family, who she believes to be inferior in every way to the wonder that is Connie; so she spends as much time as she can away from them whether it is shopping and hanging with boys or just staying home when the rest of the family goes on an outing. Maybe Connie brings the trouble that is Arnold Friend upon herself, but one thing is for certain no girl of such naiveté deserves such a punishment.

Don’t befriend anyone who’s last name is “Friend”. It is not meant to be a last name and probably means they are a rapist, pedophile or both. Arnold is based off the serial killer Charles Schmid. During the 60’s Schmid, a young and well off man known to wear makeup and stuff his boots to appear taller, murdered at least three teenage girls. Arnold unlike Charles Schmid is either supernatural or not real. This is pretty obvious due to Arnold’s infinite knowledge of Connie and all of her relations. Some believe that this omniscience is because Arnold is the devil himself. To support this you can look at the fact that “one of his boots was at a strange angle, as if his foot wasn’t in it. It pointed to the left, bent at the ankle”, which can be taken to mean that Arnold has cloven hooves for feet. (118) I find this reasoning to be ridiculous. If I am going to believe that Arnold is the devil I will do so because he is pure evil.

What I find to make the most sense is that Mr. Friend, Ellie, and ugly car are all imaginary. They are created by the twisted mind of a teenager and reflect the many problems of Connie and her age group. Ellie represents the nonstop auditory stimulation needed by teenagers “to drown out the quiet.”(13) The car is a gold convertible, but still not up to the times as Connie quickly notices “up at the front fender was an expression that was familiar – MAN THE FLYING SAUCERS. It was an expression kids used the year before, but didn’t use this year.”(70) “Kids” probably refers to her age group, but when you are young a year is a long time and something that recently out of style is about as bad as it gets.

Arnold frighteningly is quite a bit like Connie and how she may be in the future. Attached to the idea of being young and beautiful, Arnold has become completely fake. He is dressed as if he is a teenager, but that is where his likeliness to one ends. His laugh, (46) eyelashes, (84) hair, (94) and even his height all appear to be false. (124) Just like Connie, Arnold resorts to putting others down to bring himself up, even using the same insults Connie used earlier calling her sister chubby, and their friends dopes. (133/102) The scariest part of Arnold is how he shows the teen desire and fear of growing up, as with this comes sexual desire, which Connie is clearly not prepared for no matter how hip she believes herself to be. To end the confrontation Arnold states any teenager’s greatest fear “The place where you came from ain’t there any more, and where you had in mind to go is cancelled out.” (152) With such a grim outcast put before her, Connie folded. She gave up on her future and herself. (607)