While reading Quentin's chapter, I found it to be disorienting and hard to follow. Although his sequence of thoughts was easier than Benjy's, his thoughts were more complex and difficult to comprehend. He himself seemed to be very troubled and unfocused, his thoughts jumping from one memory to another without being complete. His narration is very unclear, revealing his unhealthy state of mind. Knowing that June 2 is the day he commits suicide makes things much more clear and gives an explanation as to why his thoughts are in disarray.
Quentin maintains his own ideals and beliefs throughout the story. He possesses a strong sense of how he thinks people should act, and it is based upon traditional Southern society. He feels the need to defend his family's honor, and especially needs to defend the honor of women. When he finds out about Caddy's promiscuity, he is deeply bothered and hurt by it. However, the fact that he defends her and sacrifices his own honor to protect who the father of Caddy's illegitimate child is reveals his true virtue. He is devastated when his father seems to not be troubled by Caddy's promiscuity. His father says, "men invented virginity not women." (52) He does not believe in these traditional values that Quentin does. I wonder how Quentin has formed such different beliefs than his father after being raised and taught by him.
Throughout the chapter, Quentin is constantly obsessing over time. There is a particular fascination over his watch. He thinks about Jesus Christ and his crucifixion. He says that Jesus "was worn away by a minute clicking of little wheels."(51) Perhaps this is a symbol of how Quentin cannot escape time. I wonder if this could be one of the main forces that cause his death; that he feels the urge to escape this "trap."
Quentin is troubled by several people and several events that have occurred in his life. He feels that he can't run away from the things that have happened. He also feels that he and his family have betrayed their sense of honor, and this bothers him. His thoughts race and switch without even being finished. By the end of the chapter, the ideas in his head are even more incomprehensible. Having a view into his mind shows us how unhealthy he is. It gives us insight into how unhealthy he is and why June 2, 1910 was his last day.
I thought you did an excellent job of explaining some of what was going on with Quentin, but it was also comforting to know that I wasn't the only one struggling keeping track of the chapter. I thought that your description of what was going on in Quentin's head was accurate and helped me to better understand what led to Quentins, what seemed to be imminent, breakdown.
ReplyDeleteNice point about Quentin and how despite being raised by his father he ended up with vastly different views. I also like how you paralleled Quentin's distaste for the lack of family honor and his death.
ReplyDeleteI liked how you included the part about Quentin's true virtue. And I ask the same question, where does Quentin get his views from? Certainly not his father and sister, whom he is closest too.
ReplyDeleteGood view of how Quentin is trying to defend Caddy's honor by saying he had incest with her. As wrong as it sounds now, I think that back then it was a noble thing to do, to sacrifice your honor to protect your family, even if it is stupid in the action.
ReplyDeleteTime is a scary thing and I totally agree with your point of it relating to his death. Maybe he foresees the end of the Compson family in some sort of way and can't take the weight of carrying it on too
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