While Benjy’s chapter was hard to read and sort through,
Quentin’s chapter (June Second, 1910) was harder to comprehend. Why were
certain sayings or words repeated? Why did he say them? The chapter begins with
a major theme we saw throughout Benjy’s chapter- time. It begins with Quentin
breaking his watch, (a major symbolic moment) and his observations on time. He
goes back and forth between observing his broken watch and thinking about his
sister, Caddy, and how he lied to his father about committing incest with her
so their father doesn't know about Caddy’s bastard child.
Even in the first part of the chapter, we begin to see how
Quentin’s unusual mind works. He breaks his own watch, but when he goes to the
clock shop to get it fixed, he doesn't fix the watch. Further, he asks the man
in the shop if any of the displayed clocks are working- he doesn't want to know
if they are right but if they are working. This shows the continuing theme of
timelessness. When Quentin says he wants to know if the clocks are right, but
not the time, it asks the question, what is time?
Clocks just measure numbers,
but what effect does time have on us? Quentin is obsessed with time; yet the
ticking of his watch haunts him. Why would he want to know if the clocks were
“right”? Why not just ask for the time? Quentin is haunted with the passing of
time and the past. The “right” time is a number that we all follow and measure.
But time can't really be comprehended; it's something we cannot change- past or
future. Every second we are in the present, but the present is continuous
through the past and always going into the future.
Quentin is also very obsessed with the behavior of his
sister. He doesn't approve of her “promiscuous” ways. In that time, a
transition of old and new ways, some were very concerned with the behavior of
women. Quentin is so concerned, he takes on the “blame of his sisters actions
so their family name is spared (yet in Benjy's chapter we see that the family
is fated for bad things). This also shows that Quentin carries guilt and
responsibilities for others in things he cannot control.
Quentin’s obsession with things that are abstract and not even physical objects that can be changed (like time) hinder him from living a “normal” life- or at least a life in which he has less worry. His observations on these things and his comprehension of them are what make this chapter a difficult one.
I had trouble wrapping my head around your description of time-which is a good thing. I did not understand what Faulkner meant by Quentin being so concerned about the time and you explained it with time being an idea that everyone follows. It's still confusing, but there's no better way to make it more clear.
ReplyDeleteI like how you talked about how strange Quentin's thought process is. The reader is in Quentin's head but is still never sure what he is thinking or why he didn't fix the watch even though he went to fix it.
ReplyDeleteI love the way you wrote this! Questions in the beginning and then elaborating upon them with textual evidence, it allows the reader to follow your train of thought while still leaving it open ended. I didn't quite follow or agree with all your interpretations, but it was excellent and unique all the same.
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