Question 4- Sound and the Fury

Memory is used as an escape by Faulkner. Remembering is a way to transport ones self out of the current reality, and into anytime that they have expirienced in the past. However, memeory serves different purposes depending on the indivisual. For some characters, like Quentin, the past is the ominous and inescapeable presents that is contantly closing in. With each second that passes it reasures you of your powerlessness to effectively create any type of change. His memory housed everything of significance that happened to him to all of his life. For Quentin, memory brings with it the burden of reality. When Quentin assumes the responsibilty for Caddy's mistake, he becomes obsessed with doing everything possible to rectify her mistake. The past is both his motivation and his torment. A constant reminder of what he can no longer atain. In some ways, Quentin's memory was his life. The expiriences that his memory holds are both a representation of his past, and a forshadowing of his future. Because Quentin wells on the past so much, he is never able to truly progress. On the outside it looks as if he is bettering himself, but in reality all of his accomplishments are meaningless. Time is the enemy that stands between Caddy and her innocence, and the Compson family and their respectable names. Memories are all that are left for the family now. Memories, unlike innocence and a good reputation, cannot be taken from you if you choose to keep them alive. Benjy is the perfect example of someone who utilizes his memory. Benjy is only able to function because of his memory. His memory allows him to expirience the past in present time. The logic and rules of time do not apply to Benjy. He shows a complete disreguard for time, but values expirience over all other characters in the book. All Benjy knows how to do is expirience. While Quentin cherished the things of the past and dreaded the future, Benjy's day-to-day functionings render time powerless. Time is neither his enemy or his friend. It only affects him when it affects those around him (i.e. the loss of Caddy and her innocence). Time and memories can almost be seen as entities in and of themselves. The characters varing relationships with these entities are established to give the reader deeper insight into the motivation and meaning behind the lives that they lead.