The truly interesting question is how do we as readers look at the idea of audience in this novel. Who is reading this? Are we simply privy to an inner monologue? While that may be a suitable read of the first two section, it doesn't work as well with the last two. Jason's section and the last section are less chaotic, less experimental and more importantly more prose-esque.
So who is Jason talking to? The fact that the section begins and ends with "Once a bitch..." utterance means that it's a story. A simple portrayal of a day in the life of Jason Compson is presented.
The strange thing about Jason is how many times he says that he doesn't care about things. He attempts to write off Caddy, Quentin, Benjy, his Mother, his father, Dilsey, the people putting on a show but the important thing is that these are the elements that make up the story he chooses to tell. Yes, he's hard to relate to because he spends most of time complaining about everything, but his complaints give you better insight into what he really cares about.
He says on numerous occasions that he doesn't care about Quentin's going-ons. But we see him chase her down, for no other reason than he does care. Yes he is sure that she is out with the boy "not standing up" but because Jason is following them around, Quentin has no time to actually be with the boy. He is expending energy to stop her.
He tells Quentin that he doesn't want her fooling around on his "mother's" ground. Jason does not want Quentin caught on the family land because the Mother won't be able to ignore it if it happens there. Mother Compson does not leave the house, so Jason makes sure that she doesn't have to suffer heartbreak (any more than the stuff she causes herself).
Yes all the time Jason is doing awful things to all the people in the book. He teases Luster with the tickets to the show. He keeps Caddy from see her daughter. He's generally a racist. He's the last male of a family that is going to dust around him. How should he act?
So who is Jason talking to? The fact that the section begins and ends with "Once a bitch..." utterance means that it's a story. A simple portrayal of a day in the life of Jason Compson is presented.
The strange thing about Jason is how many times he says that he doesn't care about things. He attempts to write off Caddy, Quentin, Benjy, his Mother, his father, Dilsey, the people putting on a show but the important thing is that these are the elements that make up the story he chooses to tell. Yes, he's hard to relate to because he spends most of time complaining about everything, but his complaints give you better insight into what he really cares about.
He says on numerous occasions that he doesn't care about Quentin's going-ons. But we see him chase her down, for no other reason than he does care. Yes he is sure that she is out with the boy "not standing up" but because Jason is following them around, Quentin has no time to actually be with the boy. He is expending energy to stop her.
He tells Quentin that he doesn't want her fooling around on his "mother's" ground. Jason does not want Quentin caught on the family land because the Mother won't be able to ignore it if it happens there. Mother Compson does not leave the house, so Jason makes sure that she doesn't have to suffer heartbreak (any more than the stuff she causes herself).
Yes all the time Jason is doing awful things to all the people in the book. He teases Luster with the tickets to the show. He keeps Caddy from see her daughter. He's generally a racist. He's the last male of a family that is going to dust around him. How should he act?
No comments:
Post a Comment