Benji section

William Faulkner begins his novel The Sound and the Fury with a disorienting and confusing way to the readers. The first section of the book titled “April Seventh 1928” is told through the perspective of the youngest Compson son “Benjy” who is retarded. Benjy speech jumps from the past to present quickly and some readers may find it difficult to track where Benjy’s speech shifts in time. When Benjy hears things in the present, he relates them to the past. In his section there are many recollections  of things in the past such as Caddy's wedding and Damuddy's death. Faulkner intention in starting his book in this way is to draw readers into his story and want to decipher and set the ideas and events in some kind of order. A lot of what Benjy experiences highlights how southern families made no true effort to try and include people they considered of low status such as Benjy.

  The date of April Seventh, 1928 is the date of Benjy's thirty-third birthday, and the greater significance of the date is to show that even as a grown man Benjy is living with his parents. At age 33, Christ was crucified. This date shows that Benjy's role in the Compson family is very important; although they may not know it , Benjy is the rock of the family, as Jesus Christ is to the world. Benjy's condition is a grief and shame for his family , but he was born with his condition. Caddy is the only Compson who truly shows compassion and love for Benjy. Even his own mother is ashamed of him. His name change from Maury to "Benjy " accounts for that. Benjy unique perspective shows us that the Compsons are shallow people who don't just accept people despite their flaws.

 Benjy's nostalgia for the past shows that the southern society were still stuck of things of the past such as believing retardation was a flaw.  Benjy is a symbol of what the Compson family and the broader Southern "Hated" and that is "flaw" they believed everyone should be perfect.