Matthew Adler
Professor Allred
Response 1
3 September 2013
Body, perspective, and the everlasting human desire to convey its limits is found in the”Benjy” section of Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury. Written through an impressionistic, and therefore seemingly unreliable pen, Faulkner throws his reader into a storm of poetic and simple observation to convey the limits of individual perspective. Not only is Benjy’s family limited by their own perception, but so is Benjy and the careful reader. Faulkner shows us that objectivity is born from subjectivity. The reader is given Benjy’s eyes, skin, and more importantly the thought process of his environment. But even after all the proper tools are given to the reader, we still impose our own subjective experience on Benjy’s. Faulkner conveys that subjectivity is unreliable. He therefore attempts to objectively define the limits of human experience–subjectivity.
The individuals that speak of and to Benjy are tilted with a subjective bias. Likewise, Benjy’s perception of his environment is achieved through his own keen, and at some points seemingly innacurrate observations. For example, Benjy idyllically conveys his own perspective: “Steam came off Roskus. He was sitting in front of the stove. The oven door was open and Roskus had his feet in it. Steam came off the bowl. Caddy put the spoon into my mouth easy. There was a black spot on the inside of the bowl”(70). Simple nouns and adjectives combined with simple syntax shows Faulkner’s intention to underline subjectivity and individual perspective as the pervading theme in daily life. The ornate first sentence of the passage precedes a plain statement to highlight observation as a construct from an individual’s own impression on his surroundings. Steam does not form off an individual, rather, it comes off the hot food that sits in a serving bowl. But the reader understands what Benjy means, and therefore can relate more easily to Faulkner’s intention. Imagery of Roskus’ feet in the oven further demonstrates Faulkner’s ability to place the reader in Benjy’s shoes. Also, the adjective “easy” allows the reader to impose his own subjective experience with Benjy’s. “Easy” has many potential meanings. Such stretched and condensed observations of Benjy furthers Faulkner’s argument– subjectivity is both a hindrance and at times, a help in understanding an individual’s existence.
Benjy’s impressions convey his own persona as a perceptive individual, even though those around him think of him as slow and mute. The last sentence of the passage is a plain observation, but also an astute one. To the ignorant observer, a black dot on the inside of a bowl would be a negligible. But Benjy is an astute observer. More importantly, to the casual reader, such a sentence would be overlooked as well. But, for the critical reader, a character who muses over a trifling (important) image shows that there is depth and value in his judgement and therefore, the character’s existence. Faulkner uses the subtle observations from Benjy’s perspective to underline both the limits and liberties of individual impressions on the environment.
