The Sound and the Fury Short Summary

The Sound and the Fury, written by William Faulkner, is made up of four sections. All these sections have the same characters and based on similar themes.  The first part is a setting on 7^th April 1928. This is on Benjy’s birthday. It is also before Easter.  Benjy, severely retarded, has mixed feelings of sensual impressions and memories. They thoughts cover his whole life. There are those happy times he had with Caddy, is a sister. The memories are also shared with Quentin and Jason, his brothers. There are also those clumsy approaches he had with a girl. Benjy narrates this section.

The second part is narrated by Quentin and is dated 2^nd June 1910. This section also combines the present experiences and the memories of the past. The events are continuous. Quentin, who is at Harvard, decides to commit suicide. Before that, he travels through Cambridge, undertakes several adventures, recalls the time he was involved in a fight. Moreover, he thinks about his loving sister Caddy. After all that, he immerses himself into Charles River.

The third part, a narration by Jason, is dated 6^th, 1928. He talks of the times he lies and dupes the female members of the family, including Mrs. Compson, who is his mother, Caddy, the sister, and Miss Quentin, who is his niece. Even though he has an obsession with money, he is incompetent when it comes to a business whose circumstances remain fairly marginal.

In the last section, the narration is in a third person’s voice and is dated Sunday, 8^th April 1928. In this story, Miss Quentin decides to steal the money Jason IV had fraudulently obtained from them. The act infuriates Jason. This part acknowledges the honest and dignified Dilsey, the housekeeper who is good despite the bad things happening around.