Throughout the beginning of the story, Quentin is portrayed as an over achiever, who tries to live up to extremely high expectations for himself. He is an extreme rule follower, which ends up being his downfall. His family used to have a lot of success and Quentin tries to resurrect their success. Towards the end of the chapter, Quentin's thoughts become extremely jumbled and restless. Aside from these traits, Quentin is obsessed with his sister, Caddy. Unlike his brother's lustful relationship with Caddy, Quentin is extremely protective over his sister and her actions. He tries to preserve her sense of perfection because she his the only thing left in their family that meets the high expectations that Quentin holds.
"is Benjy still crying I don't know poor Benjy I sat down on the bank the grass was damp a little then I found my shoes wet get out of that water are you crazy but she didn't move her face was a wide blur framed out of the blur of the sand by her hair get out now she sat up the she rose her skirt flopped against her draining she climbed the the bank her clothe flopping sat down why don't you wring it out do ou want to catch cold yes the water sucked and gurgled across the shallow the water rippled like a piece of cloth holding still a little light as water does"
In this passage, spoken by Quentin, there is an extreme lack of punctuation and sense. Quentin is extremely confused and his thoughts are in completely jumbled and in disarray. The lack of punctuation portrays this jumbled state of mind. The passage is spoken in the present. This passage also is an example of how obsessive and hyper focused Quentin is, which is his ultimate downfall.
Nice thought that the lack of punctuation portrays this jumbled state of mind. I think that was Faulkner's intent to show his "fragmented mental state." Great choice of text to support your idea.
ReplyDeleteThe analysis of Quentin's mental state was spot on. You brought up a few different image that portrayed his jumbled mind that I did not previously think of. The passage you chose is probably the perfect example of what you were trying to prove. Nice close reading and comparison of Benjy and Quentin!
ReplyDeleteThis description of Quentin's mental state and personality is exactly how I perceived him as well. Good job identifying specific and important personality traits and characteristics!
ReplyDeleteI agree with the idea of Quentin's disarrayed mind. The passage is a great example of this as it follows no particular train and thought and is a mess of jumbled words. I think it would be interesting to compare Quentin to Benjy. Which one has a clearer state of mind. Benjy sees things as they are, while Quentin's view can be somewhat skewed.
ReplyDeleteI agree that one of the reasons Quentin is so crazy is because he is an overachiever. Even when he is about to die, he wants to get every little detail of his life fixed, knowing that it is unfixable. He doesn't love Caddy as much as he needs her. He wants to keep her pure for his own sake so that he doesn't go crazy, and when she isn't anymore he can't handle it.
ReplyDeleteI agree that his stream of consciousness narration dictates his mental state. When he doesn't use punctuation, as you said, he shows how he is so caught up in the situation that he can't think straight. I also agree with the hyperactivity aspect of his narration. It goes along with his obsessive nature.
ReplyDeleteGreat job analyzing Quentin! I completely agree. He was totally an over achiever in the beginning of the story. Also the lack of punctuation and difficulty to read made it very hard and intense, and created oddity around Quentin. Great job!!
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