Time Alone, oh Time Will Tell

The theme of time is obvious in the Quentin section. However, Faulkner’s application of time is very relevant so far in the book, mainly as a way of telling the story. (I think I can safely presume that the remaining two sections will also have some different twist of time.) Time is relative and everybody looks at it differently. Each section’s narrator is characterized by the treatment of time: stylistically or thematically.

The Benji section reminded me of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time because both pieces of writing try to emulate and almost record the actual thoughts and feelings of the narrator, without attempting to “improve” or “enhance.” Benji has no understanding of time; he has trouble distinguishing past from present. Faulkner’s stream of conscious technique is very effective because Benji’s brain does work like that. Little things in the present, such as how the golfers keep saying “caddie,” affect Benji and he jumps to the past. Sadly, one could say that time has not really affected Benji like the rest of his family. Yes, he has suffered the loss of Caddy over time, amongst other calamities, but Benji still lives at home as a child because he can’t experience the things we often associate with time: growing up, getting a job, marrying, and having children. The true tragedy is how Benji is disconnected from the concept of time, but he is still haunted by memories of the past.

Appropriately, the Quentin section, with an imminent suicide, treats time more thematically rather than stylistically. Like Benji, time haunts Quentin. He is trapped by his obsession with time. When I first wake up, I glance at my alarm clock. However, I do not look at the shadows on my floor to tell time like Quentin does. He breaks his watch, a present from his father, asks if it can be fixed, and then does not want it to be fixed. Quentin’s obsession with time points out two things: One, because of his constant awareness of time—everywhere is “full of ticking”—Quentin wants to escape it and therefore commits suicide. Symbolically, he breaks his watch to stop time. He does not get it fixed because he will not “need a watch” anymore (83, 84). Two, there is only so much time before Quentin’s life ends. The clock is ticking. Overall, Quentin may be more bogged down, feeling trapped, in past memories than Benji does only because he does resort to drastic measures. Unlike Benji, Quentin understands the motivations and effects of specific actions. To exacerbate the problem, Quentin’s father believes that time will tell. Certainly, time will tell.

*On a completely separate note, when I first started this book, I was frustrated with the Benji section. Now that we have started the Quentin section with its long slew of unpunctuated paragraphs, interrupted sentences, and use of italics, the Benji section seemed much easier to understand. But I guess I will have to wait until the next section to see what I really think of Quentin’s. (508)