The End to the Compson Family

The ending section of “The Sound and the Fury” concludes the slow destruction of the Compson family. While the reader expected either Caddy or Disley to narrate this section, it is interesting that Faulkner chose the narration to be in third person. This demonstrates that Faulkner chose to step out of the Compsons’ minds to view their family tragedy as a whole. The conclusion to the novel is seen in both the structure and the text. The third person narration represents an ending through the structure because the reader can now step back from the characters’ narration and see how the Compson family has declined from an outsider’s perspective. If Caddy had narrated the 4th section, we might have not gotten as clear an image of what has happened to the Compson family as a whole. In addition, the final scene truly symbolizes an ending to both the novel and the tiny amount of unity the family had (the unity through Dilsey and her “glue” of keeping the family running). When Luster is driving the carriage past the cemetery and veers left instead of right, we see the typical responses of each family member. We see Jason criticizing Luster, Benjy crying, Luster acting confused, and mother—mother is home weeping as usual. Little Quentin and Caddy are of course absent because they managed to escape from their brutal family life. This is the Compson family. At least for me, it took me almost the whole novel to truly understand the family dynamic and what was going on. This section represents the ending because the reader understands each character and recognizes that the Compson family cannot really be explained anymore—Jason will be mean-hearted, manipulative Jason; Benjy will, sadly, be lost without his Caddy; Dilsey will hold on to whatever ounce of energy she has left; and Mother will be overdramatic in her bedroom, bible in hand.
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