|
|
| Plot Summary of The Sound and the Fury |
|---|
"Three members of the once-prominent Compson family -- 33-year-old mentally retarded Benjy, oldest brother Quentin, and middle brother Jason -- relate events in the lives of their deteriorating family, especially their wild and unhappy sister Candace ("Caddy") and her daughter Quentin. The male Quentin, tormented by his sister's promiscuity and desirability, committed suicide his freshman year at Harvard in 1910, and Caddy's daughter (his namesake) would turn out much like her, stealing from her uncle Jason and running around town with an older man. An omniscient narrator relates the closing events in April 1928, when the black housekeeper Dilsey takes Benjy and her grandson Luster to church. Faulkner's first masterpiece portrays the collapse of the South in the guise of one family, from various points of view, starting with simple-minded and unconnected yet totally honest Benjy. The title comes, of course, from Macbeth: "Life ... is a tale/Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury/Signifying nothing.""
David Loftus, Resident Scholar
|
"One of William Faulkner's greatest works. This story follows a rich white family in rural Mississippi. Jason is the jerk of the family, only concerned with money, Caddy is is his sister who embarrasses the family by running off with a Yankee who leaves her with a kid, their brother, who commits suicide after going to college, and Benji, who is retarded. "
sayruh, Resident Scholar
|
|
| Review Analysis of The Sound and the Fury |
|---|
|
Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
|
|
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Tone of book?
- depressed
Time/era of story
- 19th century
Other aspects:
- story of "the rich"
Is this an adult or child's book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Outside culture (society)
- American South
If story of urban/rural...
- Small town life
Loss of...
- brother/sisters
Ethnic/regional/gender life
Yes
Main Character
Gender
- Male
Profession/status:
- wealthy
Age:
- 40's-50's
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
How sensitive is this character?
- middling sensitive to others' feelings
- mean, arrogant
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Physique
- average physique
Main Adversary
Identity:
- society
Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings?
- 4 ()
United States
Yes
The US:
- Northeast
- Deep South
Small town?
Yes
Small town people:
- nice, like Andy/Opie/Aunt Bee
- dumb Rednecks, like Gomer Pyle
Style
Person
- mostly 1st
- rotating 1st
Accounts of torture and death?
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
Sex in book?
Yes
What kind of sex:
- vague references
Unusual Style:
- a lot of flashback and forwards
- a lot of stream of consciousness
- No single main character?
Amount of dialog
- roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
|
|
|
Click here for more information about this book
Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
Use our site!
17 FREE Sci-Fi Ebooks!
FREE "How to be happy" Ebook!
Feedback
Most recent discussions:
General Book Talk
Book writing discussion
Off-topic message board
Norah Lofts
12:50:53 AM
Suzanne Weyn
4:47:34 PM
Wilma Counts
1:23:32 PM
George W. Bush
5:33:46 PM
Kin Platt
12:58:29 AM
Anonymous
12:47:34 PM
Lilian Jackson Braun
10:05:52 PM
Jane Rubino
10:04:38 PM
LaVyrle Spencer
10:04:00 PM
G.A. McKevett
10:03:31 PM
David Williams
10:03:01 PM
Steven Pressfield
10:02:30 PM
Jeanette Walls
10:00:19 PM
Darryl Ponicsan
9:59:27 PM
Ann Rinaldi
9:58:30 PM
R.L. Stine
9:57:34 PM
Geoffrey Huntington
9:57:14 PM
Betty Mahmoody
9:56:38 PM
Deric Longden
9:56:11 PM
Mary Downing Hahn
9:55:48 PM
More message boards
|
