Early in his novel, The Sound and the Fury, William Faulkner explores the world of the Compson family through the eyes of the mentally disabled Benjy Compson. As events of Benjy’s life are brought forth through vivid memories as he goes about his day on his 33rd birthday, it becomes evident that Benjy’s mental disability is often infantilized and seen as a burden by most of his family, most notably his mother and his niece. Benjy’s mother and niece often antagonize him because of his disability by victimizing themselves, openly wishing not to have to deal with his disability, and infantilizing him.
Though Benjy’s mother, Caroline Compson, is introduced as a self-victimizing hypochondriac from early on, her misguided, negative views of her son’s disability become more evident farther along in the novel’s first part, “April Seventh, 1928.” When Caddy seeks to comfort Benjy while they visit their mother on her sickbed, Caroline shifts the focus of attention from her son to herself in order to claim that she is the one who is actually suffering: “You humor [Benjy] too much. […] You dont realise that I am the one who has to pay for it” (Faulkner 63). She also manages to infantilize Benjy in this quote by gaslighting his sensitivity while chiding Caddy as if her attempts to comfort him are the actions of a person spoiling a child. In other words, it is as if comforting him will only encourage his behavior as it would a testy child, and that Caroline would have to shoulder the aftermath on her own. It then becomes clear that she has no empathy for Benjy, and believes herself to be a victim, thus establishing herself as someone who believes his disability to be a burden.
Similarly, Caddy’s illegitimate daughter, Quentin, finds Benjy’s presence to be burdensome as well. Though Caroline is much more self-pitying, Quentin’s character is extremely forthright in expressing her hatred of Benjy because of his disability. After Faulkner introduces Quentin, it is immediately obvious that she carries a vitriolic grudge against Benjy due to his disability. His presence is enough to stir her up, as seen when Benjy and Luster come across her intimately involved with the man in the red tie. In fact, one of her first lines of dialogue is indicative of her attitude towards Benjy: “If you don’t take him right away this minute and keep him away, I’m going to make Jason whip you” (Faulkner 48). Quentin clearly does not want to be around Benjy, as his sensitivity and tendency to “beller” irritates her. This seems to stem from her infantilization of him, which is evident in her saying, “[…] you let him follow everywhere I go” (Faulkner 48). The image of Benjy following Quentin around evokes images of little siblings or children tailing others. Meanwhile, the fact that Quentin claims Luster “lets” Benjy do the things that irritate her erase any sense of autonomy Benjy could have; she essentially disregards the possibility that Benjy is aware and in control of his own actions. Thus, because of her behavior and her words, the reader gets the sense that Quentin feels as though Benjy’s disability makes him a burden just as Caroline does.
Throughout the first part of The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner, Caroline Compson and Quentin are only two of many characters who fail to empathize with Benjy and effectively categorize his mental disability as burdensome through their words and actions. Throughout the later half of “April Seventh, 1928,” both exhibit tendencies to infantilize Benjy’s actions and draw irritation or discomfort from them, meanwhile focusing the attention upon themselves. And though their ways of reacting against Benjy’s disability differ, they grow from the same roots: a belief that a person with disability is “childlike” and a burden upon their caretaker.
Word count: 635
I pledge upon my word of honor that I have neither given nor received any unauthorized help on this assignment. Michelle Zillioux
Works Cited:
Faulkner, William. The Sound and the Fury, 1st International Edition. Vintage International, a Division of Random House, Inc., 1984.
