Classics · DarkThe decline of the Compson family, told by three brothers and then by their servant Dilsey
The Sound and the Fury
Three Compson brothers each tell the story of their family's decline, followed by a fourth voice
The Compsons are a once-wealthy white family in Jefferson, Mississippi, in Yoknapatawpha County. The novel has four chapters of roughly equal length. Chapter 1 is narrated by Benjy Compson, who has a mental disability and moves between memories and the present, Chapter 2 by Quentin Compson, Chapter 3 by Jason Compson, and Chapter 4 in the third person, mainly about Dilsey, the family's servant. The first three are stream-of-consciousness monologues, and the plot comes out of order through flashbacks. Most of the action happens over Easter weekend in 1928.
More about this book
Who
The Compson siblings Quentin, Benjy, Jason and Caddy, Caddy's daughter Miss Quentin, their parents, and the servant Dilsey Gibson.
World
Jefferson, Mississippi, in Yoknapatawpha County, mostly over Easter weekend in 1928.
What makes it different
Four narrative voices, three of them stream-of-consciousness, and a plot revealed out of order.
Feel
Demanding and haunting. It was published on October 7, 1929.
Page count and cover shown for: Selected edition
Further reading
- The Sound and the FuryWikipedia