My First Thoughts on The Sound and the Fury

I enjoy reading The Sound and the Fury because it captivates my curiosity to solve mysteries. Though I did not explain it in my first blog entry, books that require their readers to delve into the details of the text in order to understand the mindset of their authors are most entertaining to me. The Sound and the Fury is one of these books. The way William Faulkner compiled and organized The Sound and the Fury, though puzzling, presents his readers with a different perspective. This is evident from his intention to leave out punctuations and details in key scenes, which force readers to focus and scrutinize the anomalous text for a better understanding of the plot. This writing style deviates from the traditional prose, thus giving its readers a unique sense of literary appreciation. I believe his intention to write in an ambiguous manner results in a series of provocative questions. As the readers progress through the novel, the ambiguity will serve to capture the their attention, which helps to weave each incident together for a better understanding of the story. Because of the numerous puzzling aspects, I believe everyone’s interpretation and understanding of the story and purpose of each character would be different from the other.

By interpreting and analyzing William Faulkner’s indirect statements in describing each character, readers have a better understanding of the Compson’s family members. For example, readers can deduce the fact that Bengy was castrated. However, the euphemism and purpose associated with this incident are to emphasize Bengy’s strong connection and concern for his sister Caddy. The shifts of time in the novel create an impression in which reader must pay attention to each specific incident to fully understand the background and behavior of the characters.

Empathically speaking, I believe that we readers are like Bengy, who struggle to understand what exactly is occurring, but can feel vicariously that there is tension or problems involved with each character. For example, in the scene where Mr. Patterson intercepts Uncle Maury’s letters, Bengy is naïve about what is occurring, yet he senses discomfort with the Pattersons’ expressions. Though burdened with a mental handicap, Bengy is an expert in analyzing and distinguishing emotional overture and body language in recognizing the underlying problems of the others. Moreover, Bengy is aware of his sister being different as she is experimenting with the emerging of her sexuality, but he does not know that it is a result of her physical and mental maturity. I believe that the text is so intricately written with missing aspects, in that it also mimics Bengy’s ability to discern dilemmas, while having difficulty in conveying the actual problems. At the first glance of the novel, readers learn that there are obvious, but undefined problems, but only through closely studying of the materials that the readers can understand the meaning of plot.

Based on the first two sections, I believe Bengy’s purpose is used to relate the scenes in connecting the present and past about Caddy. Though Bengy is presented as the protagonist of the story, I believe his role in the novel is more of a supporting character, as it is demonstrated by flashbacks to describe Caddy’s vivid background and to understand her situations in the present. Though the incidents focus on Bengy, we see more emphasis in Caddy’s character, who is described as a caring, comforting, and responsible, yet promiscuous teenager. (567)

Only What They Carry: Soldiers' Pride

“The Things They Carried” evokes the Spartan images of soldiers’ life in fighting a hellish war. Since they are denied of the amenities of civil society, soldiers depend on the necessities in their rucksacks for comfort and survival. As discussed in class, soldiers face the constant threat from being killed, yet the few possessions that accompany them can improve the odds of surviving in combat.

The few personal belongings of the soldiers fighting in Vietnam sometimes offer a moment of escape from the reality of the ravaging war. These items are invaluable to their survival and more importantly, offer them a sense of sanity. As I read through this story, I believe O’Brien incorporates the weight of these items to emphasize its importance. Though these burdensome items slow the soldiers’ combat movements, they are indispensable to those fighting in trenches. Soldiers in this story carry personal possessions to alleviate their loneliness and to soothe the hurtful feelings from missing their family. The reality of feeling disconnected torments soldiers like Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, who must “hump,” wander, and serve for an unknown period of time. His only reach to the world outside the war zone is his collection of letters from Martha. By reading and pondering about her, the letters allow him to escape the horrors and deaths of war. Similarly, Ted Lavendar finds that using mind-altering drugs allows him to escape from the brutality of butchery to a more peaceful place, even though the transcendental sensation is ephemeral. I also believe O’Brien includes and vividly details their personal belongings to further emphasize the soldiers’ desire to return to their normal lives. The items the soldiers carry to war are meaningful to them, though they seem insignificant and readily available in our daily lives.

By using a third person narrator, the text reveals more about the soldiers’ minds. In describing the behavior of each character, their demeanor and conversations are unusually lax and casual. This is ironic because their game is in a place where death is often instantaneous. Nevertheless, the soldiers appear to be completely oblivious of the ubiquitous dangers that threaten their lives. Instead of being vigilant and quiet as they wait for Lee Strunk to clear a tunnel, the soldiers draw attentions by drinking Kool-Aid, smoking, and joking about their sympathy for their comrade. The squad is punished with Ted Lavender’s death, yet they remain callously indifferent by smoking his drugs. To avenge Lavender’s death, the soldiers savagely demolished the village of Than Ke. Moreover, the soldiers’ disrespectful jokes reflect their lack of military discipline. Mitchell Sanders–ironically the one who occasionally reminds the troops of moral values–is contemptuous in every aspect of human decency. In describing their encounter of the dead VC soldier, O’Brien emphasizes the chaos that the war has twisted Sanders’ mind. As he desecrates the corpse for luck, he justifies his barbaric act as a moral deed. This is disgraceful to military professionalism because soldiers have sacrificed their lives for a cause and deserve to rest in peace. Trying to appear as a professional soldier with a fearless appearance, nevertheless they fail to demonstrate their professionalism as they try to hide their fear from death. It is evident in Sanders’ callousness as he cracks debasing jokes such as to stay away from drugs and about Ted Lavender’s painless death in order to, “… destroy the reality of death itself” (¶68).

The items the soldiers carried do not change; however, the men who carry them are burdened from their experiences. Though they provide the soldiers with a momentary relief from the brutality of war, the idea of killing or be killed can only be realized by those under fire. At the end of the war, the soldiers will leave everything they had behind, but carry away the pride and pain that only they can understand. (642)