The Completion of the Compson Downfall

The Sound and the Fury’s final section displays the final moments before the Compson’s inevitable downfall. From Quentin’s escape to Mother’s insanity to Jason’s neurotic pursuit, the narrator describes the deterioration of each Compson’s behavior. Furthermore, there is no possible way for the Compsons to carry on their name with a suitable male heir—that is, one who is emotionally or mentally stable. Benjy is, well, he’s Benjy—a mentally challenged young man who is completely unfit to continue the family tree—; Quentin was extremely neurotic and haunted by Caddy’s lost innocence and has already committed suicide by the story’s end; and Jason is far too angry to settle down with a wife and bear children. The three disturbed young men are unable to continue the family’s legacy, and the family is slowly destroying itself from the inside out. The novel starts and ends with Benjy. In the beginning, we are completely unaware of how twisted and dysfunctional each Compson is, but in the end, we see that there is little to no hope for the Compson family. Any bright future that the family once had vanishes with Quentin’s ultimate, abrupt departure. (193)