Caddy's Catastrophe

The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner has a wide variety of complex and significant characters. These characters all come together to form interesting relationships that contribute to the main focus, or focuses, of the story. The Sound and the Fury, up to the end of the Quentin section (the point to which I have read), has been a story of tragedy and hardships for members of the Compson family. These hardships are experienced and brought about by all members of the family. Every member of the family is at least partially responsible for the difficulties of the other members. However, the character most responsible for the difficulties of the Compson family is undoubtedly Caddy.

Caddy’s promiscuity is the main reason for the tension and hardships occurring in the Compson family. Her loss of virginity and pregnancy hurt Quentin so much that he feels his only escape is suicide. Quentin has an extremely narrow-minded and old-fashioned view of women that he believes that a woman who has lost her virginity is impure. Quentin is under the impression that Caddy’s promiscuity has tainted the Compson family forever because she is no a proper woman. He is nothing less than obsessed with Caddy’s sexual promiscuity. Quentin seems like an investigative detective at times, when he and Caddy discuss her personal life. When Quentin asks Caddy how many men she has slept with, she replies “I don’t know too many” (115). This is a crushing blow to Quentin’s view of Caddy and his view of the family name. Quentin is devastated to learn that Caddy has slept with one man, let alone that she cannot even remember how many men she has slept with. Sure, Quentin is also partially driven mad by his obsession with clocks and time. But the main reason he has incurable psychological problems is that he is driven mad by Caddy’s sexual promiscuity.

At this point in the novel, I remain unclear about the father of Caddy’s child. Some hints lead the reader to believe Quentin is the father. If this were true, it would display even greater problems that Caddy causes the family. The reader is led to think Quentin is the father of Caddy’s child when Quentin tells Mr. Compson that he has committed incest. Also, Quentin’s obsession with Caddy’s baby makes the reader wonder is he is only interested because it is also his child. However, it may be that Quentin is simply obsessed with the honor of the Compson family and is not the father of the child. At this point, I am unclear who is responsible for Caddy’s pregnancy.

Caddy’s sexual promiscuity is also the cause of much of Benjy’s hardships. Caddy is the only member of the Compson family that truly cares for Benjy. She is also the only member of the Compson whom Benjy truly cares for. When she was still living with the Compson’s she made Benjy feel safe and calmed him down when he needed it. Caddy’s pregnancy forced her to be sent away to marry and care for her child, ripping her away from the person who needed her most: Benjy. Caddy’s leaving Benjy is like a mother leaving her infant child. Benjy is truly devastated because Caddy is no longer with him. This is apparent on the golf course when Benjy cannot bear to hear the golfers or Luster even say the word “Caddy” because he misses her so much. Hearing Caddy’s name is like a dagger in Benjy’s heart. In another scenario that shows how much Caddy means to him, Benjy waits by the fence every day, in hopes of seeing Caddy come home to comfort him. This waiting is to no avail every day and lands him in a predicament one time that eventually leads to his castration. The mental scar that Caddy left on Benjy by leaving him is extremely noticeable in the first section of the novel. Benjy was having a difficult enough time when Caddy was around to comfort him. Now that she is gone, Benjy’s difficulties are multiplied. Her sexual promiscuity had extreme consequences for Benjy.

The effects of Caddy’s promiscuity are apparent in both Quentin and Benjy. They may seem to affect Quentin more because he felt they were so overwhelming that the only escape was death. However, Benjy may be just as affected or even more affected by Caddy’s actions. He simply does not have them mental capacity to comprehend or display how much Caddy’s leaving has affected him.

In the first to sections, it is clear that Caddy is the source of the hardships of the two characters who have expressed their views of the situation. I am interested to see in the next section if Caddy’s sexual promiscuity caused as great of hardships for the other characters as it did for Quentin and Benjy. (807)