Through the Looking Glass

In order to truly understand the intrinsic (and somewhat neurotic) qualities of Faulkner's Quentin Compson, one must pay special attention to the unmistakable parallelism between Quentin and Benjy. On the most superficial level, their similarities are obvious: both share many of the same memories, both may be classified as reliable narrators based on their rather objective recollections, and both share the same disjointed and chaotic thought process. However, on a deeper level, the brothers mirror each other in two essential ways. The first is a strong, somewhat atypical devotion to their sister, Caddy. Benjy expresses his devout "worship" of Caddy through his inherent reliance upon her throughout virtually every stage of his life. Even at the age of thirty three, Benjy's necessity for Caddy remains, as evidenced in his physical reaction when just her name is mentioned. Quentin's devotion to his sister is also supported continuously throughout the book: he serves as both her protector and confidante and his obsession to her is so prevalent that Quentin subconsciously relates almost every aspect of his existence to hers. Another parallel concerns the senses. It cannot be coincidental that throughout the first chapter of the book, Benjy repeatedly utilizes every sense he has control over to express his surroundings. From the scent of Caddy ("Caddy smelled like trees") to the feel of her "chest going", Benjy compensates for his muteness by relying heavily on his other, more sharpened senses. However, this habit of comprehension through the senses is not unique to Benjy's character; Quentin shares the trait several times throughout chapter two. The language of sensing their external environment through all ways but speech is almost shockingly similar: on page eighty one, Quentin describes Caddy's wedding through his emphasis on hearing "her heels then in the moonlight like a cloud" and later on page eighty nine, he focuses on his sense of smell when he says "I could smell water". This mirrored trait raises a question deeper than a shared method of expression: if Benjy utilizes his controlled senses to compensate for his physical lack of speech, what, psychologically, is Quentin compensating for? Why might Faulkner put such emphasis on the similarities between Quentin and Benjy?