Quentin’s Obsession With Time William Faulkner wrote the second chapter of A Sound and the Fury in the perspective of Quentin. Despite being accepted into Harvard, Quentin’s way of narrating the events confuses the reader just as much, if not more than, Benjy does. In fact, in terms of stability, Benjy seems to be more composed than Quentin. Even though Benjy frequently mixed past events with present ones, he didn’t obsess over them like Quentin did. Quentin’s absolute addiction to time causes him to almost constantly think about it. Furthermore, he cannot stop obsessing about his sister, Caddy. After finishing the book, the reader realizes that Caddy’s wedding may have struck Quentin the hardest. At first glance, Quentin appears to be the …show more content…
Not wanting to accept that life has no meaning, Quentin desperately holds onto the past, afraid that moving on from an event is equivalent to forgetting about it entirely. As a result, Quentin remains stuck in the past, with no hope of ever looking towards the future. Mr. Compson, despite being both an alcoholic and a nihilist, managed to teach Quentin the importance of behaving like a gentleman. He frequently tries his best to defend the honor of all women, as evidenced by the fact that he got into a fight with Gerald, who was making derogatory comments about women. He also helped a young Italian girl find her way home, despite being arrested for it in the end. Both of these events showcase just how deeply Quentin cared about women. After Caddy gets married, Quentin finds himself pushed into a corner. One of Mr. Compson’s core ideologies is that women are naturally sinful and promiscuous, which made Quentin so desperate to try to protect Caddy from other men. But after the truth about her comes out, Quentin comes close to a mental breakdown. In a last-ditch effort to save her honor, Quentin lies to his father that the two of them committed incest. Mr. Compson, however, could easily tell that this was not the