Preview

Quentin's Predestination In The Sound And The Fury

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
694 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Quentin's Predestination In The Sound And The Fury
William Faulkner holds that man's self-destructive complex will lead to their condemnation, and constructed the tale of the Compsons to illustrate how humanity will confront their demise. Caddy manifests stability so that the family may depend on her to keep its frail bonds from crumbling, despite her imminent lewdness depicted through water, and reminded to Quentin through honeysuckles. Quentin appears commonplace on the surface, however his inner soul rages with emulation, portrayed through the use of clocks and fixations of time. Shadows are used to forebode Quentin’s predestination, as well as characterize Benjy, who simply withdraws into himself. Finally, Jason becomes further encompassed with his cynicism and banking business to cloak the struggles of his relatives, and unconditionally scorns time. The recurring symbols found in The Sound and the Fury are more emblematic to the novel’s characters compared to any other work of classic American literature. …show more content…
Carousing at the branch, Caddy initially epitomizes virtue. However, she muddies her underclothes, which indicates her subsequent promiscuity. After Caddy was free of celibacy, no extent of water could restore her, an ironic retraction of the traditional use of baptism. Quentin’s suicide is personified with water being symbolic of "returning-to-the-womb", as well as of mortality. The death conforms to Quentin's personality; he is a shadow of authenticity, and as he descends into the water, his shadow rises up to greet him. Thus, suicide by drowning absolves Quentin of all responsibility of living with the knowledge of Caddy's
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Tom Brennan Techniques + Notes
    • 433 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Tom Brennan Techniques + Notes

    Collective ‘we’ |Gran sums up the far-reaching effects of the accident through the collective nature of “we’re all” and the negative connotations of the word “hurting”. | |“That was the thing about my sisters, she’d become tough. It was like I hardly knew her anymore” (p29) |Characterisation of Kylie; simile; metaphor |Tom sums up Kylie’s negative transformation, a consequence of the accident with the metaphoric verb “tough” and the simile “like I hardly knew her anymore” which emphasises their changed relationship. | |“The clouds were out and a storm was threatening” (p 105) |Pathetic fallacy tone, foreshadowing |When Tom visits the police station, the negative description of the weather, with the aminous storm “threatening” reflects his own emotional turmoil through pathetic fallacy. | |“I’m not saying Daniel was innocent, what he did was wrong, very wrong, but he was no criminal” (p135) |Repetition, conditional conjunction (“but”), comparison --> innocent/criminal |When Tom first visits Daniel, he is confronted by the setting and guards and it causes him to reflect upon Daniel’s situation. The comparison of “innocent” and “criminal”, combined with the conditional conjunction “but” emphasises Daniel’s distinction as ‘not a criminal’; however, the repetition of the word “wrong” acknowledges the severity of his actions. | |“With each memory I touched, I felt it again - that pain, like a sledgehammer slicing through your heart” (p165) |Simile, negative tactile imagery, metaphor |As Tom looks through Gran’s scrapbook, he is confronted by the pain of the happy memories in the past and this is captured in the very negative tactile imagery associated with the simile: “like a sledgehammer slicing through your heart”. | |“We were all on our own journeys, and some days the traveling was worse than others” (p238)…

    • 433 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Chapter 3 of Grapes of Wrath Essay Example
    • 1167 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Chapter 3 of Grapes of Wrath Essay Example

    Just over half of the thirty chapters of The Grapes of Wrath are intercalary chapters, chapters deviating from the main narrative of the Joads that focus on a broader picture of the landscape and history of the Joad era. The Grapes of Wrath is as much historical record and social commentary as it is a narrative of one family’s odyssey through the Great Depression West. While criticized by some as distracting from the Joad narrative, the intercalary chapters cannot be ignored as fluff attached to the novel. The intercalary chapters buttress the main story by interweaving details among the chapters and bringing a specific situation into a larger historical picture. These chapters are not merely common literary techniques such as metaphors and symbols. Along with historical context and social commentary, these chapters reach out to prior events and foreshadow future events, while bringing these events to a universal level. At a base level, Chapter Three is an account of the movement of a land turtle and it struggles across the Oklahoman land. In less than three pages, John Steinbeck uses the techniques of the intercalary chapters to represent the turtle as a symbol of the Joad family and their struggle, along with the trials of other migrant families, and as an inspiring message for the human race as a whole.…

    • 1167 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Symbols In John Steinbeck's The Grapes Of Wrath
    • 119 Words
    • 1 Page

    Symbols In John Steinbeck's The Grapes Of Wrath

    John Steinbeck tells a fantastic story in his novel, The Grapes of Wrath. The characters are well developed and the plot is fantastic, but what if there was more to the story than just the plot? Part of what makes The Grapes of Wrath a fantastic novel is, in fact, something that has nothing to do with the Joad family at all! What makes this novel great is symbolism, of course! Steinbeck uses symbols generously throughout his novel, however, they are not as hard to find as some readers might anticipate. The Grapes of Wrath features multiple intercalary chapters that are sprinkled with blatant symbolism. Symbols such as the turtle, the banks, and the road all help reinforce…

    • 119 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Imagery In Faulkner's As I Lay Dying
    • 187 Words
    • 1 Page

    Imagery In Faulkner's As I Lay Dying

    Faulkner writes these moments with incredible imagery. I mainly see this imagery when I'm reading about Addie describing the beating…

    • 187 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Essay Comparing Faulkner's The Sound And The Fury
    • 809 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Essay Comparing Faulkner's The Sound And The Fury

    In William Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury, the writer explores the complicated relationship between members the Compson family, an aristocratic Southern family, and puts them against the backdrop of post-Civil War America, a time when concepts of politics, economics, and social order were rapidly changing. The novel itself it unique in its prose, which relies heavily on the first person stream-of-consciousness narration from its characters, but it’s also a story that heavily relies on its setting and time period as the story is as much about the characters themselves as well as the environment in which they live.…

    • 809 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Comparison Of Faulkner's Views In The Sound And The Fury
    • 834 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Comparison Of Faulkner's Views In The Sound And The Fury

    In his novel, The Sound and the Fury, Faulkner employs the views of the three Compson sons: Benjy, Quentin, and Jason, as well as a third party view that centralizes around the family’s maid, Dilsey, in order to depict the slow and drawn out deterioration of their once dignified, well-respected family. Faulkner appears to have a specific perception of his characters and their relationships that he would like his readers to develop in reading the novel, specifically about Caddy as a central cause of the Compson family’s undoing. These intentions are apparent through the consecutive order he has placed each of the characters’ chapters in.…

    • 834 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    To Kill A Mockingbird Suspense Analysis
    • 600 Words
    • 3 Pages

    To Kill A Mockingbird Suspense Analysis

    as if they are a part of the story. Harper Lee weaves imagery and slowing of time…

    • 600 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    cyrano essay
    • 318 Words
    • 1 Page

    cyrano essay

    All in all the irony shown through out the novel has brought a plethora of tones in the course of the book. It has shown us a playful, suspenseful, depressing, and saddening tone. All of those tones have contribute to the mainstoryline and conflict on the book. And the irony and tones it provides has a signified impact .…

    • 318 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    'A Rose for Emily': Q&A
    • 361 Words
    • 2 Pages

    'A Rose for Emily': Q&A

    5) How does Faulkner shape the story’s event to make Emily mysterious or enigmatic? In what ways does the ending come as a surprise?…

    • 361 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Falkner: Motifs In The Sound And The Fury
    • 303 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Falkner: Motifs In The Sound And The Fury

    Falkner uses many motifs in The Sound and the Fury. One that he uses is shadows. Shadow are mentioned all throughout Quentin’s section, June Second 1910, and in some of Benjy’s section, April Seventh 1928. In Quentin’s section, it says, “The shadow hadn’t quite cleared the stoop. I stopped inside the door, watching the shadow move. It moved almost perceptibly creeping back inside the door.”(The Sound and the Fury 81) Here he is talking about the shadows that he sees when he steps outside his door, after he has written two letters, one to his father and another to a friend, stating what he’s about to do, which then brings up a memory about Caddy’s wedding. Most of the time, the shadows imply that the present state of the Compson family is…

    • 303 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Barn Burning - A Symbolism Analysis

    • 1047 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Barn Burning - A Symbolism Analysis

    In William Faulkner's 1939 short story "Barn Burning," a young boy, Colonel Sartoris Snopes (Sarty), is faced with and forced to endure the abusive and destructive tendencies of his father, Abner Snopes. As the story unfolds, several examples can be found to illustrate Faulkner's use of symbolism to allow the reader to sense the disgust for Abner Snopes, the significance in the lack of color usage throughout the story, and finally, Sarty's journey.…

    • 1047 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Mr Brown
    • 839 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Mr Brown

    injustice also portrays Curley as an animal — a ‘dirty little rat’. Poor Lennie, on the other hand, is like a helpless lamb: ‘bleated with terror’. Not only do the verbs and images convey the violence in the scene: the insulting swearwords — ‘God damn punk’, ‘big bastard’, ‘big son-of-a-bitch’ (strong for the time when the novel was written) — are examples of verbal aggression that anticipate the physical violence.…

    • 839 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Abuse Of Power In Steelheart
    • 484 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Abuse Of Power In Steelheart

    Sanderson’s ability to insert symbolism as a way to give the characters depth is extraordinary. David, the main character, has been studying Epics since his father was murdered. Epics are humans that were gifted special powers that work against the laws of nature. The most powerful Epics are trying to take over the world. David decides that he wants to join a group of rebels, The Reckoners, so that he can hunt down and kill the Epic who murdered his father. One of the Epics that David studied was Firefight. Firefight is a very powerful Epic with the ability to create illusions. David thinks that he has learned…

    • 484 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Quentin: A Victim Analysis
    • 105 Words
    • 1 Page

    Quentin: A Victim Analysis

    Quentin, this negative force are within individuals, until their hearts and minds are restored this will continue. I understand that automatically you were a victim to unjust behavior. Let alone falsely accused of an acted based on own discrimination and lies. You are right sometime being innocent until proven guilty does not work. Depending on the jury. It was a bad experience that happen to you but it even taught you the enemy may be more near than far. Please know I am not passing judgment, but a similar incident took place the same way so I understand it has happen to someone I know.…

    • 105 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Allusions In The Bloody Sire
    • 453 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Allusions In The Bloody Sire

    I think these four allusions help Jeffers make a point because these allusions represent the violence and cruelty…

    • 453 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics