Classics and the Western Canon discussion

The Jason section occurs on April 6, one day before the Benjy section. We see Jason’s activities and interactions in his household and in the hardware store where he works. This section is easier to understand than previous sections because it is dominated by the present. The pieces of the puzzle are beginning to fit together. Benjy is still the same Benjy and will never change; Quentin has committed suicide; Herbert Head has divorced Caddy because of her pre-marital pregnancy; Caddy’s parents have agreed to raise her daughter, Quentin; Jason Sr. has died; and Quentin, now a 17-year old, is running around town with a man in a red tie—the same man Benjy sees on the swing with her, triggering his recollection of Caddy on the swing with Charlie.

Jason’s narrative is in a more simplified idiom than that of his brothers. The section follows a linear progression with less stream of consciousness. But Jason is as much a victim of the past as his brothers. His narrative is in the present tense. The scenes he recalls of the past are narrated in the present tense to suggest they continue to consume his daily existence.

Jason’s diction is full of bile and resentment. He is racist, anti-Semitic, misogynistic, aggressive, and cruel. He nurses a bitter grudge toward his brother and sister for what he perceives to be their past injustices toward him. He delights in inflicting pain on others, as evidenced by the malicious glee with which he recalls his reprehensible treatment of Caddy at their father’s funeral. He is obsessed with money. It informs all his relationships, including his relationship with his family. He makes a big production of watching his mother burn the monthly checks Caddy sends to support Quentin. Meanwhile, he steals the money for himself without his mother’s knowledge.

Jason’s opening line sets the tone for this section and firmly establishes his character: “Once a bitch, always a bitch, what I say.” He frames his section by concluding it with the same words. This sums up Jason’s attitude toward women and echoes Dalton Ames’ reply in the Quentin section about having a sister, “No, but they’re all bitches.” It also contrasts with Quentin’s respect for the chivalric code of the past.

Jason’s section sheds light on some of the puzzling statements in the Benjy section. A few examples:

We had a discussion in the Benjy section about Benjy’s reference to “the dark place on the wall.” Jason clarifies the confusion:

Ben went to the dark place on the wall where the mirror used to be, rubbing his hands on it and slobbering and moaning.

At the end of his section, Jason explains why Benjy was castrated:

I could hear the Great American Gelding snoring away like a planing mill. I read somewhere they’d fix men that way to give them women’s voices. But maybe he didn’t know what they’d done to him. I don’t reckon he even knew what he had been trying to do, or why Mr. Burgess knocked him out with the fence picket. . . Having to wait to do it at all until he broke out and tried to run a little girl down on the street with her own father looking at him.

The opening of the Benjy section with Luster searching for the quarter is for the same coin Dilsey promises she will get for him from Frony after Jason cruelly burns the show tickets in front of him.

Both the Benjy and Quentin sections include glimpses of Jason as a child. Which of his childhood mannerisms, habits, and personality foreshadow his adult behavior?

This section is characterized by a flurry of activity. Jason dashes madly from place to place, trying to out run, out do, and outwit. He is in a state of constant agitation. Why is he always in such a hurry? What is he running away from or running toward?

Although we’ve seen glimpses of Caroline Compson in both the Benjy and Quentin sections, a more complete picture emerges of her in the Jason section. What do you think of her? Did her treatment of Jason contribute to his vindictive nature and alienation from his siblings?

What I noticed first is that Quentin's and Jasons grammar seems to differ. I.e. in the Jason section there's a lot of 'I says', whereas Quentins grammar seems to be more up to the present use of grammar (if one can say so). I don't know what that means though,

I find it troubling to say something about Jason and his behaviour. As one can see in the Benjy section he's quite left out as a child: he seems to be playing by himself all the time, whereas Caddy, Quentin and Benjy seem to have a pretty close bond. But is Jason left out because he is malicious? Or does he become malicious because he is left out?

In that aspect I think Caroline Compson's attitude towards her children doesn't do him any good, as she keeps emphasizing on how much Jason is left out.

Marieke wrote: "But is Jason left out because he is malicious? Or does he become malicious because he is left out?

In that aspect I think Caroline Compson's attitude towards her children doesn't do him any good, as she keeps emphasizing on how much Jason is left out..."

It's the nature vs. nurture debate. How much of Jason can be attributed to his nature and how much can be attributed to his environment? It's a complex issue for which there are no easy answers.

But maybe it's not either/or. Maybe it's all of the above. His malicious streak as a child (he cut up Benjy's dolls) could be because he feels left out and so acts up out of jealousy and frustration. But his feelings of having an outsider status is certainly fueled by his mother. And that exacerbates the situation, which alienates him even further from his siblings.

Was the trading house that Jason uses a bucket shop or actual commodity trading house? Jason seems to make fun of bucket shops and the “suckers” that use them but the descriptions giving remind me more of the bucket shop description giving by Edwin Lefèvre in Reminiscences of a Stock Operator than that of a commodity trading house around that time.

Mike wrote: "Was the trading house that Jason uses a bucket shop or actual commodity trading house? Jason seems to make fun of bucket shops and the “suckers” that use them but the descriptions giving remind me ..."

I'm going to show my ignorance here because I had no idea of the difference between a bucket shop or a commodity trading house. So I looked them up. Based on the definition I found, it sounds to me Jason was using a bucket shop. Maybe someone else who knows more about this stuff than I do can shed some light here.

Mike wrote: "Was the trading house that Jason uses a bucket shop or actual commodity trading house? Jason seems to make fun of bucket shops and the “suckers” that use them but the descriptions giving remind me ..."

Based on prior study of American markets, it sounds like Jason is sending telegraphs back and forth with a brokerage (a commodities trading house) who is trading on the NYC Cotton exchange on his behalf.

According to Stephen Ross and Noel Polk, Jason thinks the commodity house he is using for his trades and advice is cheating him, though there is no evidence to support that; only Jason’s bitterness and anti-Semitism. A bucket shop is just slang for a corrupt commodities trading house.

I found this entry in Reading Faulkner: The Sound and the Fury:

“217:23
bucket shop
a dishonest brokerage that delays in executing a client's orders in order to make a profit on the delay.”

Based on Jason’s unreliable viewpoint as the constant victim, I would say he is using an honest brokerage, not a “bucket shop.”

Thanks for the clarification, Aiden.

This section was hard to read, even though it was the easiest to understand. It was extremely uncomfortable to be in Jason's head. He has got to be the most despicable and repugnant villain I have met in literature in a while. I found myself being irritable and short tempered while I was reading it.

Such is the power of Faulkner’s writing. You can understand all perspectives. Even if you feel no sympathy for Jason, you feel his rage, his sense of having been wronged, the disappointment coming from his sense of entitlement, his impotence at the ruin and despair of his family and his name.

I feel like, a hundred years ago, Faulkner so faithfully and eloquently captured that sense of aggrieved white masculinity that is still alive and well today in some quarters.

How is aggrieved white masculinity different than any other type of aggrievement? Given the same upbringing and social milieu, would other genders and ethnicities act different? Certainly Faulkner is pointing to the flaws of a society that produces a Jason, but is it inherently a white masculine problem? Or is it a human tendency for some to react to their sense of being wronged in the manner that Jason does?

Ignacio wrote: "This section was hard to read, even though it was the easiest to understand. It was extremely uncomfortable to be in Jason's head. He has got to be the most despicable and repugnant villain I have ..."

Both times I’ve studied the Jason section, it’s been the hardest for me to get through as well. I find myself yelling at Jason. I don’t know about today, but I know in Faulkner’s day there was a dying class in the American South who considered themselves “gentlemen” because they came from illustrious families from the Plantation class. After losing slavery to the Civil War, they still imagined themselves superior, regardless of the reality in front of them.

I see Jason as the embodiment of the remnants of the slave-owning class who felt entitled and couldn’t figure out that owning people to work their fields didn’t make them superior. He also seems almost a caricature of the old biblical metaphor about a person searching for the speck of sawdust in his neighbor’s eye, while ignoring the plank in his own.

Jason is a nasty human being. He pretty much embodies everything hateful in a person. But I also feel a little sorry for him because he suffers.

It must be awful to carry so much hatred inside you, to spew so much venom, and to think you are surrounded by vipers all of whom are out to get you. There is no happiness, no joy, to be found in such a life. Jason is trapped in a prison of his own making. He is unable--or unwilling--to get out of it. He has condemned himself to a life of misery. He carries a huge chip on his shoulder, always ready for a preemptive attack because he thinks he is under siege. He has no meaningful connection with another human being. All his relationships are based on money. He is isolated and very much alone.

I see the three Compson men as trapped, each in a different way. Benjy is trapped in an eternal present. Time will never heal him of his loss because he has no concept of time. Quentin wants to stop time--a battle he will never win. And Jason can't let go of the past, allowing it to color his attitude and relationships.

The three of them suffer, each in his own way. Benjy is the only one who has no control over his predicament. The other two can choose to be different. Instead, they choose to cling to a mind set that propels them on a path of self-destruction, isolation, and misery.

It's all pretty tragic.

Tamara wrote: "Jason is a nasty human being. He pretty much embodies everything hateful in a person. But I also feel a little sorry for him because he suffers.

It must be awful to carry so much hatred inside yo..."

This almost seems like a 'past, present, future' vibe. Although, if attributing the Quentin section to the 'past' and the Benjy section to the 'present', how would Jason represent the 'future'?

Marieke wrote: "This almost seems like a 'past, present, future' vibe. Although, if attributing the Quentin section to the 'past' and the Benjy section to the 'present', how would Jason represent the 'future'?.."

That’s a really interesting observation.

The dominant symbol of the Jason section is money. Jason evaluates everything in terms of money, including his relationship with Lorraine. Maybe Jason represents the man of the future in that he has reduced everything to its monetary value. Money is valued above family, truth, honor, integrity, decency, compassion, etc. all the qualities that society once held so dear.

Tamara wrote: "Jason is a nasty human being. He pretty much embodies everything hateful in a person. But I also feel a little sorry for him because he suffers.

It must be awful to carry so much hatred inside yo..."

Your understanding of Jason is generous and compassionate. Maybe I will get there on a second reading; on first reading this, I just had a visceral reaction to him.

But I think you are right that he has not felt loved. His mother's preference for him works more to make him feel separate from his siblings than to make him feel truly loved or at peace. He feels the world is against him and sees or imagines trickery everywhere.

It was helpful to clarify (as Aiden did above) that the exchange house he is using is not actually swindling him, but he imagines that. He sees/feels/experiences the world that way.

Tamara wrote: "I see the three Compson men as trapped, each in a different way. Benjy is trapped in an eternal present. Time will never heal him of his loss because he has no concept of time. Quentin wants to stop time--a battle he will never win. And Jason can't let go of the past, allowing it to color his attitude and relationships."

And, I believe this was somewhat mentioned before in the discussion of the Benjy section, all three brothers put unfair expectations upon Caddy, and feel deeply wounded when she cannot satisfy those expectations: Benjy wants a mother figure, Quentin a perfect, pure lady, untouched by sexuality, and Jason a sister who will lift him up to a higher social status through marriage.

In this section we see how Jason is hurt on a deep level by this failure. It comes out in his cruelty toward Caddy and toward his niece Quentin, and in the obsession with money you are describing.

He is funny, but his humor has got a sting to it.

When his mother complains about Quentin, he says,

But of course if you want me to follow her around and see what she does, I can quit the store and get a job where I can work at night. Then I can watch her during the day, and you can use Ben for the night shift.

And speaking of his father's alcoholism, he says,

Like I say if he had to sell something to send Quentin to Harvard we'd all been a damn sight better off if he'd sold that sideboard and bought himself a one-armed strait-jacket with part of the money. I reckon the reason all the Compson gave out before it got to me like Mother says, is that he drank it all up.

Even his sense of humor is laced with bitterness.

Susanna wrote: "Tamara wrote: "Even his sense of humor is laced with bitterness..."

Of course, some of the funniest humor is."

I disagree.

I enjoy humor that pokes gentle fun at the foibles, idiosyncrasies, and weaknesses in human behavior. I can relate to it. I can see some of those behaviors in myself. But when humor comes from a place of bitterness, it ceases to be funny, in my opinion.

Jason's words and actions are full of bile and rancor. His “humor” calls attention to the speaker, revealing more about him and the nature of his perceptions than it does about the subject he is ostensibly ridiculing.

I don’t think he is even trying to be funny. I think he actually believes what he says.

I’ve been trying to figure out if there is a significance to the Compson brothers’ sense of smell. In addition to their problematic relationship with time, the three brothers have in common a strong sense of smell.

For Benjy, it’s the smell of leaves and trees, all of which have positive connotations for him. For Quentin, it's the smell of honeysuckle that conjures up female sexuality (specifically Caddy’s), which he associates with a decline in the standards of the past. He distorts a natural and amoral object in nature into a negative. For Jason, it’s the smell of gasoline from his car, giving him a pounding headache.

I’m wondering if it’s possible to see the different smell sensitivities as signifying a decline in the moral and ethical qualities of the character. We move from the unadulterated nature/innocence of Benjy and the smell of trees, to a distortion of what is natural (Quentin/ honeysuckle/human sexuality) to the refinement of a natural substance used in a modern mode of transportation which, coincidentally, pollutes the natural environment (Jason and gasoline).

There seems to be a corresponding downward spiral from the innocence of Benjy and the smell of trees to the toxicity of Jason and the smell of an environmental pollutant. The further removed from the ability to smell nature in its pristine state, the greater the moral and ethical depravity of the individual involved.

I’m not sure I’m explaining this well. Does it make sense or am I taking it too far?

I think you might be on to something. And I'm still trying to figure out the significance of the different birds noted in each section--pigeons, jays, etc.

Sam wrote: "I think you might be on to something. And I'm still trying to figure out the significance of the different birds noted in each section--pigeons, jays, etc."

Some suggestions:

The gulls in the Quentin section seem to hover in the air, motionless. Maybe they're a symbol of time standing still. Swallows are monogamous. Maybe something to do with relationships. Herbert Head wants to tell Quentin a story about a parrot, a bird that mimics. Maybe signifying Herbert's shallowness--he mimics other people's ideas and opinions. Quentin hears a bird when he meets Dalton Ames, but I don't think he identifies the type of bird. I don't know if there's a significant to that. Aren't pigeons and doves interchangeable? If so, maybe the pigeon represents love.

That's all I've got. We'd be interested to know what you come up with, so please share.

Tamara wrote: "I’ve been trying to figure out if there is a significance to the Compson brothers’ sense of smell. In addition to their problematic relationship with time, the three brothers have in common a stron..."

I’m not sure if it was intended, but it’s a fascinating observation. I hadn’t considered the quality of the smells each brother notes. It could also track with the movement of time that was pushing from the natural world of farming toward the growth of industry and modernity that the Compson family wasn’t equipped to weather.

I also spent time considering the significance of bird types in different sections and would be interested in others’ interpretations.

Aiden wrote: "It could also track with the movement of time that was pushing from the natural world of farming toward the growth of industry and modernity that the Compson family wasn’t equipped to weather..."

Great point!
That also ties in with Marieke's observation @14 about there being a past, present, and future vibe.

I see it less as a past, present and future theme than as time has stopped, period. Benjy has no sense of time, everything is now. Quentin put a stop to his time. Jason cannot move past his perception of being wronged, essentially stopping his life at the moment his plans for the future fell through. (view spoiler)[When we read the afterward, which talks about what happens to Jason outside the timeline of the novel, it's only when he's completely shed himself of everything Compson that he's able to move on, as pitiful and shallow as that new existence is (hide spoiler)]

Bryan "They call me the Doge" wrote: "I see it less as a past, present and future theme than as time has stopped, period. Benjy has no sense of time, everything is now. Quentin put a stop to his time. Jason cannot move past his percept..."

Perhaps it's not either/or but both--a sort of micro and macro perspective. On the micro level, each character is stuck in time as you point out; on the macro level, each character represents a stage in time as Aiden points out--a movement from the natural world to industrialization and modernity.

Another observation about Jason:

In spite of Caroline Compson’s attempts to isolate Jason from the rest of the family and bring him closer to her, I don’t see him liking or even respecting her. He fools her into believing she has been burning Caddy’s checks for 15 years. Meanwhile, he has taken the money for himself. She thinks he used the $1,000 she gave him to invest in Earl’s store. Instead, he used the money to buy a car. He knows how to manipulate her, and is well aware she is a hypocrite and prone to histrionics. He calls her out on it several times.

Speaking of Caddy, he says:

“Let her come back,” I says, “far as I’m concerned.”
“No,” she says. “I owe that to your father’s memory.”
“When he was trying all the time to persuade you to let her come home when Herbert threw her out?” I says.

His speaks of her in a tone of derision and contempt:

like that time when she happened to see one of them kissing Caddy and all next day she went around the house in a black dress and veil and even Father couldn’t get her to say a word except crying and saying her little daughter was dead and Caddy about fifteen then...

I can only imagine how this must have devastated Caddy.

Marieke wrote: "Tamara wrote: "Jason is a nasty human being. He pretty much embodies everything hateful in a person. But I also feel a little sorry for him because he suffers. "

When Jason is tracking Quentin and the drummer (salesman?) he bushwacks a thicker and thicker labyrinth of briers, blood leaving his legs, going to his exploding head, eyes blinded by the sun, ears ringing, his hand on poison oak or "a snake or something". Any echos of Satan in the garden here? Ironically, isn't Jason the voice of god forbidding Quentin to partake of the fruits of sin, and she rebels against restriction? Seems like some Garden imagery here!

Constance Hill Hall finds a lot of parallels between Paradise Lost and SATF. In PL the lesser faculties of the Soul are the Senses, Fancy and the Imagination, and Reason, which she posits are represented by the Compson boys Benjy, Quentin, and Jason, forming a composite man, united in their common memories and obsession with Caddy or daughter Quentin. In the PL V 100-113 passage, "mimic Fancy wakes/To imitate her (reason)" recalling the association of Quentin and the parrot mentioned above. If these parallels are justified, Jason seems to be reason gone rogue, but maybe reason is a challenge to God's authority and only functions in balance with the Senses and Imagination. Unchecked reason is destructive? I like the idea of seeing the Compson boys as a composite, but how much of the Christian metaphor did Faulkner intend to bring to this work?

So, in the end does Jason deserve some respect for his endurance in the face of difficulty? He does provide for the family, motley group that they are, an activity that seems central to his identity, and requires theft, deception, and self-aggrandizement. However, is providing for the family an act of love? Do Jason's words of disparagement for every member of the family negate his commitment to provide the family livelihood? Do we as readers find any warmth in our hearts for Jason or do we join the rest of the family in excluding him?

Suzann wrote: "So, in the end does Jason deserve some respect for his endurance in the face of difficulty? He does provide for the family, motley group that they are, an activity that seems central to his identit..."

I could see your point if Jason actually did “provide” for the family through his own work. However, it’s actually Caddy’s money for Miss Quentin that provides for Jason primarily, including his prostitute mistress, and he uses the $1,000 from his mother meant to gain some security by owning of stake of the business where he shirks all work and spends it on a car for himself alone, which he uses to see his mistress and spy on Miss Q. All he gives the rest of the family is the measly check he must get from a menial job at the store, while claiming that’s all the money he has.

Let’s be clear here, Jason doesn’t provide anything for the family. He only scrupulously steals money from them for his own benefit while they continue to decline in ignorance. I believe Jason III (father) felt the burden of providing for his family and drank himself to death still caring very much about them. Jason IV has nothing but contempt for anyone, including his own mistress and his mother, who isn’t him.

Suzann wrote: "I like the idea of seeing the Compson boys as a composite, but how much of the Christian metaphor did Faulkner intend to bring to this work?

I’m always a bit leery of trying to figure out an author’s intention since he/she may consciously intend to do one thing but end up doing something else. I found an interview of Faulkner where he pretty much says the same thing. He is responding to a question about one of his other works, but his response is applicable to the issue of an author’s intention:

Unidentified participant: In A Fable was there any definite attempt on your part to more or less put it in biblical language?

William Faulkner: That was the only book I ever wrote from an idea, and so I can't say myself just how much of the intent was deliberate to follow the story of the Passion Week or a pattern of—of any Christian legend or even the language of the Bible, though I'm—I'm quite sure that the—that the deliberate intent was there, but how much I—I can't say because I think the writer, when he is busy telling his story, he hasn't really got time to think about style or—or about the pattern of—of his—his sentences. He's too busy. But anyone writing writes from his own experience, his own observations, his own imagination, and all he has read is a part of his experience, and so in the—the heat and fury of—of composing his piece, he will reach back into his memory, and he will dig up all sorts of things and will fit them into the joint just as the carpenter does with a board until he finds the one that—that makes the best joint or makes the—the soundest corner or the driest roof, and so I think that no man can say just how much of—of a style, a method, is deliberately deliberate or unconsciously deliberate or what. In fact, he's so busy trying to tell his story that he don't really care.

https://faulkner.lib.virginia.edu/dis...

Suzann wrote: "Do we as readers find any warmth in our hearts for Jason or do we join the rest of the family in excluding him?

As I said in @13, I feel sorry for him because he is in a lot of pain.