The Benjy Chapter

  After acquiring a significant amount of background knowledge on Faulkner and his writing ability, my expectations were set high for the first chapter. To say my expectations were exceeded would be a drastic understatement. Benjy is the narrator of this first chapter, and this was done by no mistake of Faulkner's. Benjy, from the very beginning is used as a key tool of symbolism set as a precedent for the entire novel. His mental retardation and reliance upon the lesser senses such as smell, offers us as readers this sense of trust and reliability toward Benjy. He is innocent and unbiased, and through this, Faulkner successfully reveals the genuine nature of the characters and setting of this book, and I think this wouldn't have been accomplished if he had started with any other character.  Also, his coming age of 33, 3 days before Easter is an intended symbol for a "Christ-like" significance, and that combined with his great deal of suffering at the hands of the people around him. I think we will see more parallels and significance to this symbolism later on in the novel.

   Benjy'a status as a member of the household is highly disheartening. It is like the coined scruffy little pup that constantly gets kicked by all except the neighbor girl from across the street, who loves this dog despite its shortcomings. The slaves treat him poorly, his siblings treat him poorly, (all but Caddy that is) and his mom, of all people, is the worst. She deliberately changed Benjy's name from Maury, because Mory being a family name, it would be just another "grotesque stain" on her family's image. 

    Benjy's need for consistency and high nostalgia contributes to Faulkner's given concept of family. As discovered through my research, Faulkner is known for writing what he knows, the people, who/how they are and where they are. That said, it is through these tendencies of Benjy that he establishes the concept of family as a unit, close-knit and interdependent. This means that every and every change is significant, and carries consequences to the dynamic, either positive or negative. It also shows us a lot about the south at that time, how it was as a community, that family name carried value, and significance. 

However so many pages in, I am already in love with Benjy, Faulkner has written him to be capable of sympathy and adoration, but through small intricacies, has indicated a greater significance for him as a character, and I think that this will only continue to grow as the novel progresses.