The Disorder of Things

The article I picked is called “Faulkner: Technique of "The Sound and the Fury."” This article analyzes Faulkner’s technique, arrangement of sections, purpose and effectiveness of the novel. I personally enjoy that Bowling takes into account the importance of the order of the novel. He states that many people believe the novel would be more effective if presented in a different manner, most specifically putting Benji’s section at the end because it is impossible to fully understand without the knowledge of the following sections. Bowling argues that the point of the novel, beyond showing the happenings of Caddy, is to show the utter lack of perspective present in the Compson family (symbolic of the social “disorder”). If one agrees with that being the second most important theme, presenting a section that not only lacks perspective but a narrator who is completely unable to have a perspective is a great way to begin the novel!

I think my favorite part of this article is where Bowling says “Although such capriciousness makes Quentin’s mental processes difficult to follow, this is no mere personal whim on the part of the author to make the section unduly perplexing. Even in the most complex and realistic passages, Faulkner has greatly simplified Quentin’s mental processes in order that the reader may be able to understand them.” The idea that Quentin’s section is probably the hardest to understand (Benji’s was harder to follow, but Quentin, since he is so deeply troubled and intellectual, is much harder to comprehend in entirety) and yet, it is simplified from what his character, had he been real would have really thought. With that in mind, just trying to expand upon what is already presented in Quentin’s section gives me a headache.

I think it is some great food for though! (299)

Bowling, Lawrence E. "Faulkner: Technique of "The Sound and the Fury"" The Kenyon Review 10.4 (1948): 552-56. JSTOR. Web. 29 Oct. 2009. .

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Why does Quentin break the watch?

I mean he doesn’t even break the watch fully! He crushes the glass, twists off the hands and yet the watch still ticks and the face is presumably still remains. I highly doubt that he was unable to make the swatch stop ticking entirely; so, why on the last day break the watch only sort of?

His father gave him the watch to keep track of time and so “that [he] might forget it now and then for a moment and not spend all your breath trying to conquer it” (76). That must have been too much to ask of him because we see what he does to the watch. I thought maybe Quentin saw it as his path to breaking time. And that was essentially what the whole day was about, was it not? He is out to create order in his life before he stops time. He utilized the time on his last day to prepare to break it and kill himself. The watch breaking may have been preparation for suicide; it was a family heirloom that he was ruining, something valuable that has history. He is something more valuable, has a similar history to the watch and he is going to do more than just sort of break himself later. I know many may think it is breaking time, but if he were to really do that, wouldn’t he stop it from ticking? I really think he was breaking from his family and practicing for the moment when he going to break with time forever more.

Independent Short Stories

I have read three stories and believe I have found the one for my paper. The first story I read was "Modern Lovers" by Rick Moody in The American Scholar. I didn't particularly like this story; it started out very interestingly describing a man’s head in completely abstract terms but went severely downhill from there. The second story was "Poe Posthumous; Or, The Light-House" by Joyce Carol Oates from her book of compiled stories Wild Nights! I found this story to be rather enjoyable. I really like the concept and the execution. Fictional Poe documenting the horrid effects of excessive isolation on man, it somehow seems very appropriate. And solely the man who writes of decent into madness poetically and disturbingly documents his own descent to madness and death; it is creepy and interesting to read but not overwhelmingly impressive in the way I would hope my chosen story would strike me.

And it did! the last story I read seems to be the one I am going to write about. “The Dreaming Jaw, The Salivating Ear” by Jonathan Lethem published in Harper’s Magazine is awesome. It is so weird and convoluted. It is a story about a blog, written in the weirdest way that seems to be so perfectly about a blog but also so perfectly about something more. The style itself will be subject enough for a very interesting paper. I really like this story! (237)