I think that Faulkner begins the books with such a disorienting chapter because the chapter is meant to be used as a sort of loose framework for the rest of the events in the book, without immediately telling all the details of every part of the story. We learn about many of the events in Benjy's 33 years of life, but often without context or much detail. This will all be clarified more as the book goes on I would assume.
It seems that Benjy play many roles in the Compson family, but given the clues in this case of the date and his age, it seems to be inferred that Benjy is the innocent lamb, the Chirst figure in the book. Because sin is subject to what a person knows and their understanding of the world, it is assumed that Benjy cannot really sin, and is therefore the Jesus like figure in the Compson family.
Benjy's perspective is unique in that he lacks much capacity for subjective thought, so it is most likely that the reader will receive the most truthful and face value account of the events from this narrator.
Benjy's need for consistency and his nostalgia for the past shows that he really misses his family as it was more intact in the past. He is especially troubled by not having Caddy around, as it was her who showed him the most love and compassion out of anyone in the family. This also suggests that he loves his family very much, he just longs for the past because the family was more abundant in this time, and they all seemed happier.
Without having finished the entire novel, I cannot really say what symbolic role Benjy plays in the novel, but if I had to choose at this time I would say he plays a sort of innocent childlike, if not Christ-like figure in the book.
Do you think Faulkner is commenting on the reliability of Christ, seeing as he relating him to a mentally challenged person? Perhaps he is commenting on religion as a whole, and the idea of blind faith?
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your comparison to Christ. I do think that Benjy's "idiocy" shows innocence as well as inability to sin. But I also see differences between the two. I noticed that Benjy seems to be less like Christ in that he does not experience outward love for everyone.
ReplyDeleteI think your observation on why Faulkner started out the book with Benjy because he sets up much of the book, is very interesting. I agree that Benjy plays a Christlike figure in the book, is it because he is the savior of the Compson name?
ReplyDeleteI also believe Benjy was a Christ-like figure. Not only with the idea with the lamb and innocence, but also the dates. If you look up the date of the section it is the day before Resurrection day. It also is Benjy's birthday who is turning 33. If you know your theology, you could recognize that Christ was crucified at the same age since he began preaching at 30 and preached for 3 years.
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